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| Investigators load boxes of documents and computers which they secured during a raid of the K-Sports Foundation, which is linked to President Park Geun-hye's confidant, Choi Soon-sil, in southern Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap |
By Jung Min-ho
Prosecutors raided two foundations and the nation's largest business lobby group, Wednesday, in their investigation of a corruption scandal surrounding President Park Geun-hye's confidant, Choi Soon-sil.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said it raided nine places, including the offices of the foundations and the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), to find out whether the former were used as fundraising vehicles for people close to President Park as is widely suspected.
The move comes 27 days after Spec Watch Korea, a civic group, filed a complaint with the prosecution against those involved in the establishment and operation of the foundations.
Yet concerns have been raised about whether the investigation will uncover the truth, because the prosecutors' actions have come belatedly. Many are concerned that they might have already missed the golden time to collect critical evidence, as they raided the places about a month after the suspicions about the foundations started to emerge. Amid mounting public anger, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to have an independent counsel investigate the case.
What pushed the prosecution to finally take action was an avalanche of evidence of illegal activities committed under President Park's watch. Local media found computer files showing that Choi had access to a great deal of government information, including some that is considered highly classified or are state secrets.
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| A memorial stone dedicated to the late President Park Chung-hee, the father of President Park Geun-hye, stands in front of the Federation of Korean Industries, which was raided in a probe into a corruption scandal, Wednesday. / Yonhap |
Analysts say that this might be just the tip of a far larger iceberg. According to Lee Sung-han, a former secretary general of the Mir Foundation, Choi led a secret advisory group to President Park, peddling enormous influence over various state affairs, including who to appoint as ministers. Lee also said that Choi received direct reports from Chung Ho-sung, a presidential personal secretary, almost every day and shared information with members of the group.
If the allegations are true, those involved could be prosecuted for violating the law governing the security of confidential presidential records.
Among the raided places was the office of Cha Eun-taek, who worked as the visual director for the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. He is known to be one of the group members.
Prosecutors also raided the office of The Blue K, a paper company set up by Choi. She is thought to have used it to funnel money from the Mir and K-Sports foundations without leaving a trace.
She is also suspected of moving all the money eventually to other paper companies she set up in Germany. According to Taunus Zeitung, a German local media outlet, there are 15 companies under her name, including Widec Sports.
Meanwhile, prosecutors are analyzing Choi's old personal computer after receiving it from JTBC, a local broadcaster, which first reported that she reviewed and edited President Park's speeches ahead of the dates of their delivery.
The FKI raised about 80 billion won ($72 million) in just two months to fund the Mir and K-Sports foundations; and it took only a single day to get approval for their establishment from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism – usually this would take weeks.
In a surprise statement at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday, President Park partly admitted that Choi was secretly involved in state affairs, including editing her speeches in the early years of her presidency. But evidence indicates that Choi's intervention behind the curtain may have continued for far longer.
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