Choi Soon-sil lied about tablet PC
By Yi Whan-woo
Choi Soon-sil has apparently lied about a tablet PC that is considered key evidence proving her involvement in editing presidential speeches and state affairs.
Based on files saved on the tablet PC, JTBC reported that Choi had edited presidential speeches, and President Park Geun-hye partially confirmed the allegations in a nationally televised statement. JTBC said its reporters obtained the tablet PC that had been thrown in the trash at her secret office in Seoul, and delivered it to the prosecution after making the report.
However, Choi maintained that the tablet PC was not hers, had not used it and didn’t even know about it at all in an interview with the Segye Ilbo in Germany.
However, various facts show she lied.
This is one reason why people doubt her sincerity even though she promised to cooperate with the prosecution’s investigation through her lawyer.
The tablet PC had two photos of her, including a selfie.
According to the prosecution, the selfie was in a folder that automatically saves photos that are taken using the tablet PC.
She is suspected of exploiting her decades-long friendship with the President to peddle her influence and interfere in state affairs despite having no security clearance.
The prosecution has pointed out that a number of files containing presidential documents, including Park’s speeches, were modified by a user ID: yooyeon.
This ID is an old nickname for Choi’s 20-year-old daughter, Chung Yoo-ra.
“We believe it was Choi who created and used such an ID,” an investigator said.
Choi claimed that the tablet PC was owned by a firm managed by Kim Han-soo, a Cheong Wa Dae official.
Refusing to be named, one of Choi’s aides named Ko Young-tae as the tablet PC owner. Ko allegedly managed two paper companies ― The Blue K and Widec Sports ― that Choi set up in Korea and Germany to divert money from the non-profit Mir and K-Sports foundations.
Ko denied the speculation on his connection to the tablet PC after being questioned by the prosecution twice over the last few days. He also claimed he never saw Choi using it.
Citing Choi’s late father, Choi Tae-min, who was the founder of a religious cult, some sources speculated that Choi volunteered to be interviewed by the Segye Ilbo, which was established by the Unification Church, to indirectly collude with other suspects and destroy evidence.
One of the suspects includes former senior presidential secretary for economic affairs Ahn Jong-beom, who the President sacked Sunday along with other scandal-plagued aides in a bid to take hold of the leadership crisis.
Ahn allegedly forced conglomerates to raise funds for the establishment of the Mir and K-Sports foundations that Choi controlled.
Choi told the Segye Ilbo that she had never heard of Ahn.
A former official of the K-Sports Foundation revealed, Sunday, that Ahn called and text-messaged his wife using a mobile phone registered under someone else’s name.
The official said Ahn contacted his wife after learning that the prosecution planned to summon him for questioning over Ahn’s role in the foundation.