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By Jung Min-ho
Prosecutors called in two former presidential secretaries, Monday, who left their posts last month over the influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye's confidant Choi Soon-sil.
An Bong-geun and Lee Jae-man appeared at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul at 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., respectively.
They declined to answer a barrage of questions from reporters before entering the prosecution's office.
Prosecutors believe the two men, who worked as Park's aides for nearly 20 years, can help them get a clear picture of the scandal, which has provoked massive rallies against the President.
Along with Jeong Ho-seong, who has already been arrested for revealing state secrets, the three are known as the closest aides to President Park since she began her political career as lawmaker in 1998.
An is suspected of giving classified government information to Choi and a "Cheong Wa Dae free pass," which allowed her to enter the presidential office without any security checks.
Lee, who was in charge of computer security at Cheong Wa Dae, is also suspected of playing a role in giving such information to Choi, or failing in his security duties if this was not the case.
Evidence shows that Choi had access to state documents ranging from Park's speech drafts to extremely sensitive government activities, including three unofficial military contacts with North Korea in 2012, through her tablet PC. She allegedly received such information not just once or twice but regularly from Cheong Wa Dae, meddling in various state affairs, including who to appoint as ministers.
Now, the prosecution is aiming to question the President. It has already announced that she will be questioned as early as this week, saying it is in talks with Cheong Wa Dae to set a date and location.
Much evidence and testimony already suggest that Park was directly involved in the scandal, in which Choi allegedly forced conglomerates to "donate" 77.4 billion won ($66.1 million) to the Mir and K-Sports foundations, which then allegedly funneled the money to people close to Choi, including her daughter Chung Yoo-ra. The question is how much the President was involved and why.
While Park is suspected of having private meetings with seven conglomerate heads in July last year and urging them to make contributions to the foundations, the prosecution confirmed that SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won had a private meeting with her in February. Prosecutors are focusing on why Park met Chey and whether she sought more funds from SK for the foundations.
Other testimony suggests the President's direct involvement. An Chong-bum, a former presidential secretary who has been arrested for abuse of power, reportedly told prosecutors that Park was "furious" over the slow process of establishing the foundations.
The scandal has made Park the least popular president ever in Korea's modern history. Her approval rating has remained at a record-low 5 percent for two weeks despite her emotional apologies, according to local pollster Gallup Korea last week.
