Another potentially explosive scandal is hitting the ruling camp. This time, it involves another alleged confidant of President Park Geun-hye who used her influence to establish foundations with massive funding from conglomerates.
Suspicions are that Choi Soon-sil, the daughter of a deceased pastor mentor to President Park and ex-wife of Park's former closest aide Jeong Yun-hoe, was deeply involved in the establishment of the Mir Foundation last November and the K-Sports Foundation in January. An Chong-bum, senior presidential aide for policy coordination, is accused of abusing his power to raise nearly 80 billion won for the foundations through the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the lobbying arm for chaebol.
Opposition parties claim that President Park may be behind the scandal, likening the two foundations to the Ilhae Foundation established in the 1980s by cronies of then dictatorial President Chun Doo-hwan. The Ilhae Foundation, named after Chun's pen name, was also established by donations from conglomerates.
There are multiple reasons to have doubts about the two foundations, which were allegedly intended to contribute to promoting a creative economy and a creative culture, both President Park's trademark policies.
First of all, the two organizations won approval from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism only one day after applications were filed. This is quite unusual, considering that it takes three weeks on average for similar applications to get endorsed.
Everything that happened surrounding the fund-raising process is questioned, too. Nineteen conglomerates, including Samsung and Hyundai Motor, allegedly took part in the FKI-led campaign "voluntarily" because they sympathized with the purposes of the two foundations. But it is reasonable to believe that completing the process in such a short time would be all but impossible without outside pressure from the presidential office. That is why An, then senior presidential aide for economic affairs, spearheaded the fund-raising campaign.
To sum up, Choi, who had a special relationship with the President, might have wire-pulled her own underlings to establish the foundations under the aegis of those in power. Why they were established is not clear yet, but it would be anachronistic indeed if they were intended to be the home base for President Park's post-retirement activities.
Cheong Wa Dae has been glossing over the scandal without giving any clear explanations. But given that it is directly linked to the morality of President Park and her administration, law enforcement must conduct swift and thorough investigations and reveal the truth. The ruling Saenuri Party, for its part, needs to cooperate with the opposition's push to look into the case at the National Assembly.
Suspicions are that Choi Soon-sil, the daughter of a deceased pastor mentor to President Park and ex-wife of Park's former closest aide Jeong Yun-hoe, was deeply involved in the establishment of the Mir Foundation last November and the K-Sports Foundation in January. An Chong-bum, senior presidential aide for policy coordination, is accused of abusing his power to raise nearly 80 billion won for the foundations through the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the lobbying arm for chaebol.
Opposition parties claim that President Park may be behind the scandal, likening the two foundations to the Ilhae Foundation established in the 1980s by cronies of then dictatorial President Chun Doo-hwan. The Ilhae Foundation, named after Chun's pen name, was also established by donations from conglomerates.
There are multiple reasons to have doubts about the two foundations, which were allegedly intended to contribute to promoting a creative economy and a creative culture, both President Park's trademark policies.
First of all, the two organizations won approval from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism only one day after applications were filed. This is quite unusual, considering that it takes three weeks on average for similar applications to get endorsed.
Everything that happened surrounding the fund-raising process is questioned, too. Nineteen conglomerates, including Samsung and Hyundai Motor, allegedly took part in the FKI-led campaign "voluntarily" because they sympathized with the purposes of the two foundations. But it is reasonable to believe that completing the process in such a short time would be all but impossible without outside pressure from the presidential office. That is why An, then senior presidential aide for economic affairs, spearheaded the fund-raising campaign.
To sum up, Choi, who had a special relationship with the President, might have wire-pulled her own underlings to establish the foundations under the aegis of those in power. Why they were established is not clear yet, but it would be anachronistic indeed if they were intended to be the home base for President Park's post-retirement activities.
Cheong Wa Dae has been glossing over the scandal without giving any clear explanations. But given that it is directly linked to the morality of President Park and her administration, law enforcement must conduct swift and thorough investigations and reveal the truth. The ruling Saenuri Party, for its part, needs to cooperate with the opposition's push to look into the case at the National Assembly.
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