KRX chief faces questioning over Choi Soon-sil scandal
By Nam Hyun-woo
Jeong Chan-woo
Korea’s bourse operator, the Korea Exchange (KRX), may lose its head as Chairman and CEO, Jeong Chan-woo, is suspected of being involved in the President Park Geun-hye and Choi Soon-sil corruption scandal.
According to KRX on Thursday, it is paying keen attention to the independent counsel team’s investigation of the scandal, as the team hinted that it may grill Jeong over the allegation that he meddled in a number of private financial firms’ workforce reshuffling.
The team said Wednesday it “may summon Jeong if necessary” and “he can be regarded as a suspect should the circumstances dictate so.”
Jeong is facing an allegation that he peddled influence in a KEB Hana Bank senior executive’s promotion when he was vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC). Jeong served in the post from March 2013 to January last year.
The executive, Lee Sang-hwa, who is in charge of global sales, allegedly assisted Choi and her daughter Chung Yoo-ra to secure loans for their business and property purchase in Germany. In 2015, KEB Hana’s branch in Germany lent them 380,000 euros, backed by Choi’s land in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, as collateral when Lee was the head of the branch.
Lee returned home in January last year and relocated as the chief of a KEB Hana branch in Seocho-dong, Seoul. A month later, he was promoted to the current position.
Regarding Lee’s promotion, an allegation was raised that former presidential secretary Ahn Jong-beom ordered Jeong to peddle influence to KEB Hana Bank. The special prosecutors reportedly found a memo regarding Lee in Ahn’s notebook.
Over the allegation, the team raided the FSC on Feb. 3. In the raid, the special prosecutors focused their search on the FSC’s vice chairman office. Jeong has already been summoned by the prosecutors as a testifier.
Should Jeong be treated as a suspect, it raises the likelihood of KRX losing its head. In case of Jeong’s absence, its Management Strategy Division head will lead the operator as acting chief.
“The KRX has its protocol over such a case,” said a KRX official. “However, no conclusion has been made so far and the allegation is not about Jeong’s activities as the KRX chief. We are currently paying keen attention on the special prosecutors’ move.”
Upon his appointment as the chief of the KRX, Jeong faced strong oppositions from the KRX union. Back then, the union claimed that Jeong, who has been close to the Park Geun-hye administration, got the publicly recruited position through so-called “parachute appointment.”
Also, rumors are spreading that Jeong has exerted his influence in not only the promotion of the FSC but also KEB Hana Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea and even KB Kookmin Bank.
A day earlier, Financial Consumer Agency said it will accuse Jeong and FSC Chairman Yim Jong-yong to the special prosecutors’ team. In its statement, the civic group claimed “Yim and Jeong are the hands of Choi who subordinated the country’s financial industry for her interest.”
“They peddled their influence to not only public financial firms but also private companies, while abandoning their duty as the chief of the financial authority,” it added.