Park's aides suspected of covering up scandal

The seat for Lee Nam-ki, senior presidential secretary for public relations, remains vacant during President Park Geun-hye’s weekly meeting with her top aides at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. Lee tendered his resignation last week when his recently-fired spokesman Yoon Chang-jung was accused of a sex assault. / Yonhap

By Jun Ji-hye

Some presidential aides are suspected of having attempted to cover up the alleged sexual case involving former presidential spokesman Yoon Chang-jung by ordering him to flee to Korea, and delaying reporting it to President Park Geun-hye.

Yoon was fired last week over allegations he sexually harassed a 21-year-old Korean-American intern hired to assist him during Park’s first official U.S. visit.

Top-level officials of the presidential office were suspected of helping Yoon return to Korea, just an hour after his alleged abuse was reported to Washington police.

“Yoon, who committed an improper action for a top ranking official, needed to be separated from the President’s entourage. We could neither take him to Los Angeles, Park’s next destination, nor leave him in Washington. So, we took the measure of having him return to Korea,” an unidentified senior Cheong Wa Dae official was quoted as saying by a local daily.

The suspected cover-up attempt intensified after Kwak Sang-do, the senior secretary for civil affairs, told reporters: “It was common sense that Yoon could not accompany the President and must leave. Anyone would have decided that.”

Kwak said ordering Yoon back to Korea did not violate American law.

However, critics say that ordering the spokesman home in the middle of the visit was not something secretaries could have decided on their own.

They say it was likely top officials at Cheong Wa Dae including chief of staff Huh Tae-yeol orchestrated it.

On Friday, the public affairs office said Yoon returned to Korea on his own volition after being told he could be investigated either by the U.S. or Korean police.

A day later, Yoon refuted this in a press conference, saying, “Lee Nam-ki, the presidential senior secretary for public relations, advised me to go to Korea as soon as he was told about the case. It was Lee who booked the flight.”

Lee said he did not remember the circumstances surrounding their meeting exactly.

The public relations chief also delayed reporting the incident to President Park ― she was told the following day.

“I was apprised of the situation first on Wednesday morning (local time) and reported it to Park on Thursday morning,” Lee said.

In giving a reason for this, he said, “I know it sounds like a lie but it was hard to find time to report to the president.”

Critics say the explanation is not satisfactory, as it does not make sense he kept silent even while on a five-hour flight with Park to Los Angeles.