POSCO head summoned over Choi gate
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Cha Eun-taek, a visual artist allegedly involved in an influence-peddling scandal, is taken to the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul for the court’s review of an arrest warrant for him, Friday. / Korea Times photo by Hong In-kee
By Lee Kyung-min
Prosecutors questioned POSCO Chairman Kwon Oh-joon, Friday, over his alleged involvement in suspicious dealings regarding POSCO’s previous in-house ad firm Poreka last year.
Investigators at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office questioned Kwon over the allegation that POSCO's selling of Poreka was intended to benefit Cha Eun-taek, a visual art director who is a close friend of Choi Soon-sil, the scandal-ridden confidant of President Park Geun-hye.
It is alleged that Cha, along with former senior presidential secretary for policy coordination An Chong-bum, threatened a small ad company, which acquired Poreka, into handing over 80 percent of its shares to him.
Prosecutors are focusing on a recently revealed taped conversation between Kim Young-soo, then Poreka head, and the small company’s boss. In the recording, Kim said Kwon approved Poreka’s sale to the company, a remark which the prosecution considers as evidence of Kwon’s prior knowledge about the deal that helped Cha.
The prosecution already secured testimony from An that he asked Kwon to help Cha acquire the shares. An was recently arrested over numerous charges, including coercion.
The suspicion is that Kwon become POSCO chairman succeeding Chung Joon-yang in 2014 due to pressure from Cheong Wa Dae, and he granted favors to Cha, who was close to Choi, in return for securing the top post.
It is alleged that Kwon established a relationship with the President and her close aides through his wife who was an advisor to Park for her by-election in 1998.
Meanwhile, Cha told the prosecution that he asked Choi to put his friends and family in high-ranking government positions: his graduate school professor at Hongik University Kim Jong-deok as culture minister; his uncle Kim Sang-ryul, a Sookmyung Women's University professor, as presidential secretary of education and culture; and his long-time friend Song Sung-gak as president and CEO of the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA).
They were all appointed by the President after Cha was named director of the creative convergence center under the Creative Economy Initiative, which runs the Culture Creation Convergence Belt, one of the culture ministry's major projects.
The prosecution plans to question Choi over whether she asked the President to help Cha.
It is also alleged that An helped one of Cha’s friends get an executive position at KT. The friend then allegedly helped Cha’s company get advertisement orders from KT. For this, Cha was also charged as an accomplice of An’s abuse of power.
Meanwhile, it has been alleged that Cheong Wa Dae contacted Cha last month when he was staying in China apparently to avoid investigation. While it is suspected that Cheong Wa Dae attempted to cover up the allegations by conspiring with him in advance before he came to Korea, the presidential office denied the allegation.