'Distort testimony or we will be dead,' says Choi Soon-sil

Choi Soon-sil ordered an associate to distort testimony to investigators of the political scandal surrounding her, a record of the conversation reveals. / Yonhap

By Hong Dam-young

Choi Soon-sil ordered an associate to distort testimony to investigators of the political scandal surrounding her, a record of the conversation reveals.

Rep. Park Young-sun of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea disclosed the file during the National Assembly investigation into the scandal on Wednesday. The recorded conversation between Choi and her unidentified associate allegedly dates to Oct. 27, before Choi returned to Korea from Europe on Oct. 30 to attend the prosecutors’ questioning, according to the lawmaker.

A transcript of the first part of Choi Soon-sil’s conversation with her associate in Europe is shown Wednesday, during the National Assembly investigation into the scandal. / Screencaptured from the Internet

Choi says in the first part of the conversation: “If they (investigators) ask a question how Ko (Young-tae) and I first met, don’t mention that I paid for bags he made for Park. Just tell them my friend introduced me to Ko because he and I shared the same interest in sports, and that I helped him in many ways. Actually, don’t even mention the name of the company related to us (Ko and Choi).”

Choi was instructing her associate to deny her close relationship with Ko, who served as a director at Choi’s Germany-based paper company. Ko also had made bags and clothes for President Park, which were delivered through Choi.

The second part of the conversation Choi Soon-sil had with her associate in Europe is shown during the National Assembly investigation into the scandal. / Screencaptured from the Internet

The conversation continued: “This is a mess. Tell Ko to get the gravity of the situation. Make it look like they (JTBC reporter) stole ‘it’ (her tablet computer) and everything is a lie. Also tell them that it was all Lee Seong-han’s ploy, and that he requested money from me. Otherwise, we will be FXXXED UP.”

The lawmaker assumed the “it” Choi was referring to was her tablet computer, on which cable TV channel JTBC reportedly found advance drafts of the President’s speeches. Choi also allegedly attempted to falsify that Lee, the whistleblower in the scandal and the former general secretary of the non-profit foundation controlled by Choi, made up the story and blackmailed her by demanding cash.

At Thursday’s hearing, Rep. Park exposed another recorded conversation between Choi and her associate during Choi’s stay in Europe. In the conversation, Choi blamed the associate for failing to deter her business partner from disclosing that Choi allegedly forced Korean conglomerate SK Group to donate money to a non-profit foundation she controlled.