Ex-presidential secretary caught trying to influence witness
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Ahn Jong-beom, left, former senior presidential secretary for policy coordination and Choi Soon-sil, a longtime confidant of President Park Geun-hye. Ahn was caught trying to influence testimony of a witness involved in the scandal. / Yonhap
By Lee Jin-a
Ahn Jong-beom, former senior presidential secretary for policy coordination, was caught trying to influence a witness’s testimony in the Choi Soon-sil scandal before the prosecution was to question him.
Ahn, who was sacked in a reshuffle of presidential secretaries on Sunday, is suspected of abusing his power to persuade big Korean companies to donate money to two non-profit foundations -- Mir and K-Sports. Choi is accused of siphoning off money from the foundations.
According to a local daily, Ahn tried to contact Jung Hyun-sik, former secretary general of the K-Sports Foundation, via his wife on Oct. 24, but Jung refused to respond.
With Jung due to be questioned on Oct. 27, the secretary directly texted Jung on Oct. 26 using a mobile phone registered under a borrowed name.
Ahn’s repeated attempts were revealed in Jung’s recent interview with a local newspaper Hankyoreh.
The first message reads: “Ma’am, I deliver this message because senior presidential secretary Ahn wants to talk with the secretary general. He can be contacted at 010-****-3482. He said this number is secured.” The second message reads:“I am neither on the side of police, prosecution nor media. I can help the Secretary General Jung. I will wait for his replies.” / Captured from Hankyoreh
In the interview, Jung said the foundation’s “real owner was Choi Soon-sil” and he decided to reveal this because “things are going out of control” and “this will help bring the case to justice.”
According to Hankyoreh, a K-Sports official sent a text message to Jung’s wife on Oct 24. The message reads: “Ma’am, I deliver this message because senior presidential secretary Ahn wants to talk with the secretary general. He can be contacted at 010-****-3482. He said this number is secured.”
Because Jung did not respond, Ahn himself reportedly sent a text message on Oct 26. He wrote: “I am neither on the side of police, prosecution nor media. I can help the secretary general Jung. I will wait for his replies.”
Meanwhile, prosecutors found circumstantial evidence indicating that Choi tried to destroy traces of her activities. They said computers at the K-Sports were replaced with new ones before the prosecution raided the office.
Choi’s email address of The Blue K, another scandalous company established by Choi, was also deleted.