'I wish I'd never met Park Geun-hye': Choi Seo-won breaks silence after 10 years

Choi Seo-won, formerly known as Choi Soon-sil, speaks during an interview with the Hankook Ilbo at Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital in Yongsan District, Seoul, June 29. She is serving a lengthy prison sentence for her role in the state affairs interference scandal involving the Park Geun-hye administration, but was recently granted temporary release due to health problems. Korea Times photo by Ha Sang-yoon

By Hankookilbo

• Published Jul 8, 2026 2:11 AM KST

Central figure in political scandal leading to Park's 2016-17 impeachment gives rare media interview

When asked whether there was a moment in her life she wished she could change, she paused for the first time in the three-hour interview. Until then, she had answered every question without hesitation. After several seconds of silence, Choi Seo-won, formerly known as Choi Soon-sil, spoke softly.

A central figure in the 2016-17 state affairs scandal that shook Korea and ultimately led to the impeachment of then-President Park Geun-hye, the first sitting president in the nation's constitutional history to be removed from office, Choi reflected on the decision that changed her life.

"If I could go back," she said softly, "I wish I had never met former President Park Geun-hye when we were in college."

The Hankook Ilbo met Choi, now 70, on June 29 in a conference room at Soonchunhyang University Hospital in Seoul's Yongsan District, where she was accompanied by her attorney. Speaking publicly for the first time since the scandal erupted a decade ago, Choi said her rapidly declining health had prompted her to break her silence.

"I feel my health worsening by the day, and I don't think I have much time left," she said. "I don't know how people will receive what I have to say, but before I die I want to clear away at least some, if not all, of the accusations and stigma that have followed me."

Among the principal figures implicated in the state affairs scandal, Choi is the only one who remains behind bars.

Branded as Park's shadowy confidant, Choi was sentenced in June 2020 to 18 years in prison, fined 20 billion won ($13.2 million) and ordered to forfeit approximately 6.3 billion won for her role in the scandal. Combined with an additional three-year sentence in an Ewha Womans University admissions and academic corruption case involving her daughter, she is serving a total of 21 years at Cheongju Women's Prison.

Now in her 11th year of incarceration, Choi was granted her third temporary suspension of imprisonment on June 2 due to serious health problems, including an infection following spinal surgery and concerns over possible sepsis. Her release is scheduled for 2038, if she makes it that long, although her detention could be extended if she is unable to pay the court-imposed fine.

Throughout the interview, Choi alternated between remorse and defiance. While apologizing to the public, saying, "I am sorry that events unfolded in a way that should never have made me the central figure," she also argued that many of her actions were undertaken at Park's request and insisted she had been wrongfully implicated in the Samsung bribery case.

At one point, she lowered her head and said, "I feel a profound sense of historical responsibility for becoming involved in the state affairs scandal."

As one of the central figures in one of the most consequential political scandals in Korea's constitutional history, Choi offered her own recollections and account of the events. Claims concerning facts that have already been established through final court rulings are addressed separately.

Here are the questions and answers from the interview.

Q: This is your first media interview in 10 years since 2016. What made you decide to speak now?

A: I have been granted a temporary suspension of my sentence for the third time. The first two times, I underwent surgery but was sent back to prison without any opportunity for rehabilitation. Living in prison under those conditions only aggravated my health problems, with one illness leading to another.

To be honest, it's difficult even to sit. I have severe inflammation in my spine that has spread to the joints of my bones, and I receive antibiotic injections three times a day. Only after this course of treatment is completed can doctors begin treating the paralysis I'm experiencing. I'm still waiting to undergo additional surgeries for a spinal fracture, spinal stenosis and a herniated disc. At first, the paralysis was so severe that I couldn't straighten my back or even walk. If I return to prison in this condition, there is no guarantee I'll ever come out again. If I have to serve my full sentence, I'm certain I will die there.

I suddenly found myself wondering what the point was in continuing to live if all I could do was burden my children and grandchildren. They have suffered tremendously. I remember prosecutors telling me they would 'wipe out three generations' of my family, and those words now feel all too real. I worry that if I die, my family will spend the rest of their lives being judged because of me.

The country is so deeply divided politically that I never felt I could withstand the public backlash, which is why I refused interviews all these years. But while I am still mentally capable, I wanted to clear away, if not all, at least some of the accusations and stigma that have followed me. I gathered the courage to speak because I hoped that, after spending 10 years in prison, the public might finally be willing to hear me out.

Q: What do you mean when you say your family has suffered?

A: My daughter Chung Yoo-yeon, formerly known as Yoo-ra, has been unable to pay her rent because she has no means of earning enough money to cover living expenses and my medical bills. Her debts have continued to pile up. After I was imprisoned, there was even a time when my grandchildren were at risk of being placed in state care.

I also sold the Miseung Building in Seoul's Gangnam District, where I had operated a kindergarten, for 12.6 billion won. The proceeds went toward paying court-ordered forfeitures and various taxes. Later, I learned the building was resold for 38 billion won.

More recently, an insurance reimbursement of about 3 million won that I received to cover hospital expenses was frozen the very next day. The authorities have cut off virtually every means I have to support myself or my family. As a result, I am unable to do anything to help my daughter, and that has made life extremely difficult.

Q: When you first appeared for questioning by prosecutors in 2016, you said, "I committed a crime deserving death." But as the investigation progressed, your attitude changed.

A: I returned to Korea thinking that if I simply told the truth, I'd be able to go home, because I didn't even know what charges I was facing. But when I got here, I realized that wasn't the case. During my first appearance at the prosecutors' office, I thought I was going to be crushed to death. Even now, that day is traumatic for me.

What I sincerely apologized for was the fact that, because of me, the entire country was thrown into turmoil. I wasn't admitting guilt for any specific criminal charge. In a country governed by the rule of law, if a person's guilt hasn't yet been established, shouldn't the authorities protect that person regardless of who they are? Later, I complained to the prosecution, saying, "If you leave someone completely unprotected like this, couldn't they end up getting killed?' They replied, 'There was nothing we could do."

Q: Is there anything you would like to say to the Korean people now?

A: I sincerely apologize to the public that events unfolded in such a way that I became the central figure in something that should never have happened. I often think how much better it would have been if none of this had happened.

I never intended to interfere in state affairs or manipulate the government, nor did I have any political ambitions. I became involved simply because I wanted to help, and I repeatedly tried to distance myself from former President Park. Nevertheless, by failing to serve former President Park properly, I believe I made a historic mistake by shattering the trust and affection that people who admired and respected the late Yuk Young-soo and former President Park Geun-hye had placed in them."

Park Geun-hye and Choi Seo-won: 40-year relationship

Q: When did your relationship with Park Geun-hye begin, and how did you come to help her?

A: As I understand it, former President Park depended greatly on her mother. After her mother passed away, the loss affected her deeply. Many people sent her letters of comfort at the time, and I was told that my father, the late Pastor Choi Tae-min, also wrote to her. Of those who wrote, she replied to a handful of people, and that's how the connection began.

Later, when I served as president of the Saemaum University Students' Federation, I came to know former President Park, who was then the head of the Saemaum Volunteer Corps.

We didn't have much contact for a while. Then, in 1998, when former President Park decided to run in the 15th National Assembly by-election, she had very few people around her and reached out to us for help.

She was a clean, sincere person with a genuine love for her country, and I wanted to support those values. She had originally been nominated to run in Mungyeong, where her late father, former President Park Chung-hee, had strong ties. But shortly before the election, her constituency was changed to Dalseong County.

The previous lawmaker had already handed the entire local party organization over to the opposing candidate, so we had to start from scratch. I believed it wasn't appropriate for me to step forward because being Pastor Choi's daughter carried too much baggage. As a last resort, my then-husband, Chung Yun-hoe, who had never been involved in politics, ended up helping her instead.

At the time, I prepared meals at home, reviewed her schedule every evening and offered advice on where she should go the next day. Because she had no political base, she spent all day meeting people in the field. When she came home at night, her feet were bruised and covered in blisters.

Since she had no family around her, my mother and I tried to create a warm, family-like environment for her as often as we could. Public opinion polls showed her losing right up until the day before the election, but in the end she pulled off a miraculous comeback that no one had expected.

Q: You said you couldn't step forward because you were Pastor Choi's daughter, so your husband took your place beside Park. Can you really say there were no political ambitions or personal interests involved?

A: There's a huge gap between what the public believes and what we experienced. If we had been motivated by power or money, we never would have helped her back then. Everyone believed Dalseong was already a lost cause. Even the local party chairman had fled. It wasn't about gaining influence — it was about who was willing to stay, fight and sacrifice.

We didn't even have the luxury of thinking about power. At the time, former President Park herself didn't possess much political power. Even after she won, people told me not to appear in public, so I couldn't even celebrate the victory. I became depressed because I felt used and then thrown away like garbage.

Q: After receiving a presidential pardon, Park said in a media interview that she "needed someone to handle personal errands" and believed you were someone who helped her selflessly, but that she was shocked during the prosecution's investigation.

A: When the allegations first surfaced, I spoke with former President Park before returning from Germany. She asked me, "Why has this become such an issue?"

I told her, "I didn't pursue any personal gain or receive any money. I merely recommended people because others had spoken highly of them. I'll return to Korea and explain everything." But before I could even come back, she delivered a public address. From that moment on, I was branded as someone who had "profited for personal gain" and "deceived the president." Both the investigation and public opinion moved in that direction.

That's something I still feel deeply hurt about. I wonder why she asked me to come back at all. At the very least, shouldn't she have given me a day or two to explain myself?

We had built trust over 30 to 40 years and worked almost as one person. Then, in an instant, I was reduced to being nothing more than an errand runner or a servant. It felt like I was stabbed in the heart.

Q: Even if you were simply responding to Park's requests, it seems difficult to avoid responsibility for the allegations that you acted as an unofficial power behind the scenes. Did you ever consider helping her in an official capacity?

A: After she became president, I actually wanted to leave. I visited Cheong Wa Dae for the first time after her inauguration, and although we had always been like family, even the way we addressed each other suddenly felt awkward. The atmosphere there was oppressive — it weighed people down — and I felt a strange sense of sympathy for her.

I decided that wasn't a place where I belonged. I bought a house in Germany and planned to support my daughter by starting a horse-related business, since she loved equestrian sports. But former President Park stopped me. She said, "There's no one around me. How can you leave now? I need someone who can help me the way you always have. Couldn't you stay just until things are settled?" She wasn't on good terms with her siblings either, so she needed someone she could comfortably rely on.

In that sense, it was former President Park who created the situation. If I had wanted an official position, I could have become a secretary or held some other post. But I was running a kindergarten — what political ambitions would I have had?

I could have taken an official job if I wanted to, but the thought never even crossed my mind. I disliked Cheong Wa Dae itself, and I also had a child to raise. Looking back, I was foolish. If I had accepted an official position, people probably wouldn't have called me the "shadow power behind the throne." I regret being so naïve.

Former President Park had spent so many years living at Cheong Wa Dae that she had extremely exacting standards. As the country's first female president, she often asked for my advice on things like clothing and speeches.

The recommendations made by her male secretaries were rarely approved. Everything — from cosmetics to clothes, even what color handbag matched her outfit — ended up being directed to me because everyone wanted to know what she preferred.

But at the same time, I wasn't supposed to attract any public attention. That's simply how few people she had around her.

Q: During Park's impeachment, even the ruling Saenuri Party turned against her.

A: I felt completely powerless. I appeared as a witness during the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial, and members of what was then the ruling party questioned me. It was devastating. Watching them attack former President Park more aggressively than the opposition did made me feel as though my heart were being torn apart.

The words, "If you're going to speak, at least say something that makes sense," were on the tip of my tongue, and there were times when I simply chose not to answer.

When I see the very people who pushed hardest to stop former President Park from returning to politics today, it feels as though history is repeating itself in a very strange way.

Q: Park has recently become more politically active and has been making more public appearances, including during the June 3 local elections. As someone who knew her closely, what do you think?

A: I was genuinely shocked when I saw the semi-transparent outfit she wore while campaigning at Seomun Market in Daegu.

Former President Park used to pay extraordinary attention to every detail — from the length of her jacket to her hairstyle, even to the color of the handbag that matched her clothes. It's something I never could have imagined in the past.

Whoever is coordinating her wardrobe is doing her a disservice. Frankly, it would have been better if she hadn't appeared in public at all.

How could someone completely change a style she had maintained throughout her entire life? Back then, if even one small detail wasn't to her liking, she simply wouldn't go out. Everything had to be exactly right.

Now I even wonder whether these choices truly reflect her own wishes. I'm curious about the person who changed her tastes and what their intentions are. It makes me wonder what kind of life she's living these days.

After investigation and trial

Q: The case has already been thoroughly litigated, and the Supreme Court upheld your conviction. Even so, what is it that you most want to say?

A: I still cannot accept the legal theories of an implied solicitation in the Samsung bribery case or the so-called economic community theory.

The argument is essentially that former President Park Geun-hye, in exchange for helping Lee Jae-yong with Samsung's succession plan, somehow communicated by telepathy that my daughter should be given three horses. That's what they're saying, isn't it? We're not psychics — how could I possibly know that?

And even if you assume the horses were given to my daughter, why would that constitute a bribe to me? The answer was that Park and I were an "economic community" — that we effectively shared our money. That argument itself demeans the office of the president of the Republic of Korea.

Samsung had already been preparing to support equestrian athletes for the Olympics. My daughter was included in a road map developed by Samsung's equestrian team and the Korea Equestrian Federation, yet that support was turned into evidence of bribery.

During the separate trial over the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries — which resulted in acquittals at all three court levels — the prosecution argued that Samsung's equestrian support for my daughter was proof that Lee Jae-yong had sought favors from me to facilitate the succession process. The court did not accept that argument and even pointed out shortcomings in the prosecution's evidence regarding any solicitation.

Doesn't that undermine the entire premise? I believe it's the kind of issue that could justify filing for a retrial.

Q: You've long argued that you were treated unfairly during the investigations by the Prosecutors' Special Investigation Headquarters and Special Prosecutor Park Young-soo's team.

A: They pressured me by saying, "If you admit this to the prosecution, it would only be abuse of authority, but if it goes to the special prosecutor, it becomes bribery." They insisted I confess everything former President Park had done.

I told them I knew nothing and that I could answer whatever questions they had. But they had already decided where they wanted the case to go, and in the end they tied everything to Samsung and made it a bribery case.

As I testified during the trial, on Dec. 24, 2016, a prosecutor at the special prosecutors' office told me, "We'll wipe out your entire family. If you don't confess everything, your children will be hounded for the rest of their lives, your daughter will end up living in the streets and you'll die in prison." I've never forgotten those words. They were deeply humiliating.

Another prosecutor handed me five sheets of A4 paper and said, "Write down everything you remember and everything you regret." Even when I said I had nothing to write, they insisted.

They also urged me to dismiss my attorneys, Lee Kyung-jae and Kwon Young-gwang, saying they would introduce me to different lawyers and that we could "wrap things up nicely." At times they even refused to allow my lawyers to be present.

As for the tablet PC that later became one of the prosecution's key pieces of evidence, they never once showed it to me or presented it during questioning. They only asked me about it briefly while I was being questioned about something else. I never possessed that tablet, nor did I even know how to use it.

They also claimed that I intended to place major conglomerates like Lotte under the control of the Mir and K-Sports foundations. It was an absurd allegation, and it was ultimately dropped.

After my niece (Jang Si-ho) was arrested on embezzlement charges, a prosecutor brought my older sister and brother-in-law to see me.

The two of them knelt before me together and pleaded, saying, "You'll be serving a long prison sentence anyway. Please take the blame for our daughter's charges, and we'll raise your daughter and your grandchildren." Then the prosecutor came in and asked, "They're begging you like this — shall we do it that way?"

After that, Jang Si-ho appeared to cooperate with what would now be called plea bargaining. She even said that Han Dong-hoon, who was a prosecutor at the time, was her senior from Hyundai High School. She was being treated to ice cream and practically became the special prosecutor team's leader. There are certainly prosecutors who genuinely pursue justice, but I believe people like these should be removed from the prosecution.

Q: Former aides such as Go Young-tae and Park Won-oh played a major role in bringing the allegations to public attention.

A: Whenever I accepted people into my life, I never suspected they had selfish motives or were lying. I never imagined they had prepared such a thorough betrayal.

I especially cannot understand why Go Young-tae secretly filmed the president's dressmaking workshop and leaked the footage to the media. That area was supposed to be under the strictest security. Yet no one held him legally accountable.

Nor did I know that Park Won-oh, while claiming to help my daughter, was secretly receiving money from Samsung through his own consulting company. During the trial, I came to feel that everyone had used and deceived me.

I was devastated by my own failure to recognize what was happening or even suspect it. Because I failed to see the truth, I caused enormous harm to former President Park, ruined my own family and deeply disappointed the Korean people. The emotional pain became so severe that I developed panic disorder.

Q: The court ended up rejecting many allegations raised by then-lawmaker An Min-seok — such as hidden assets worth trillions of won, Swiss bank accounts, paper companies, U.S. defense contracts and secret political funds belonging to former President Park Chung-hee. Yet they continue to circulate.

A: If I had hidden funds, wouldn't they have found them after investigating every corner of my life? I don't even know where Swiss banks are, and if such accounts existed, the government could find them. A paper company would require cooperation from people on that side. I had no reason to do anything like that. I challenged all of these claims in court.

They said I met the chairman of Lockheed Martin. I asked them where and when that meeting supposedly took place. They claimed someone withdrew cash from a Swiss bank and carried it around in a suitcase. Who would do such a thing? They even alleged that I had been involved with secret political funds belonging to former President Park Chung-hee. How old was I at the time? How could I possibly have been involved?

These accusations were fabrications beyond imagination. The same goes for the allegation that my daughter's results on the national equestrian team were manipulated. Competitions involving live animals simply cannot be rigged in that way.

Q: Han Dong-hoon, who was one of the leading prosecutors on the special counsel team, later entered politics.

A: Han spent his entire career as a prosecutor. I wonder whether the Korean people truly recognized his political achievements when he went on to become minister of justice and then leader of the ruling party. He helped imprison two conservative presidents and personally sought a 30-year prison sentence for former President Park. From that point on, the conservative movement collapsed, and many supporters walked away. Now he has entered the National Assembly and says he wants to rebuild conservatism.

In my view, a first-term lawmaker should first prove themselves through their legislative work, and perhaps only after serving more than three terms or so to be in a position to make claims like that.

Regrets and reflection

Q: It is understood that you attempted to take your own life shortly after being imprisoned. What was going through your mind at the time?

A: I didn't want to live anymore. I suppose you could say I felt I had no right to go on living. I felt sorry for my family, for former President Park Geun-hye and for the Korean people. I kept asking myself, "Do I even deserve to live?"

I believed I couldn't prevent the severe sentence I was facing, nor could I protect my children. I felt that my life had ended right there. Even if I survived, I couldn't imagine that there would be any happiness left in the years ahead.

During the investigation, I also tried several times to end my life, but each time someone discovered what I was doing. Perhaps it was a sign that I wasn't meant to die.

Q: Most of the people involved in the state affairs scandal have now been released, but you remain in prison.

A: Former President Park, (Samsung Electronics Executive) Chairman Lee Jae-yong, former presidential senior secretary Ahn Jong-beom, former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon, former senior secretary Cho Yoon-sun, former presidential senior secretary for civil affairs Woo Byung-woo — they've all been released. Jeong Ho-seong was even brought back into government as senior secretary for civil society under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

Yet I'm the only one still left behind.

Because they couldn't portray former President Park as the central figure in the state affairs scandal, I feel they placed all the responsibility on me.

Even the so-called "Chung Yun-hoe document," which originally sparked the allegations that I was the country's "No. 1 power broker behind the scenes," came about only after someone connected to Cheong Wa Dae asked me for help with a personnel appointment. I refused, saying, "What authority do I have to do something like that?"

Sometimes I wonder whether they used me because they couldn't find another way to bring down former President Park.

Q: It has recently been reported that during a luncheon, President Lee Jae Myung was told that you had now been imprisoned for 10 years, and responded, "Has it already been that long?"

A: I was surprised that my case was even mentioned in front of the president. Until now, no one had ever raised the issue of pardoning me anywhere. People generally avoid talking about my case because there's nothing to gain from doing so.

For that reason alone, I was grateful. I also took it as a positive sign that the president reacted at all. Doesn't it violate the principle of fairness to leave only me behind? It's also a matter of national unity and reconciliation.

Every administration has spoken about unity, but in the end they've used the label of "deep-rooted evils" to discourage people from thinking differently.

I spent my entire 60s in prison and became seriously ill. During my last surgery, I developed sepsis and remained unconscious for a week. Ever since my older sister passed away unexpectedly this past February, I've found myself wondering what would happen if I were to die here.

Q: If you could go back in time and change one moment in your life, what would it be?

A: (After a brief pause) If I could go back to any point, it would be to my university days, when I first met former President Park Geun-hye. I wish I had never met her.

I think my life would have turned out completely differently — 180 degrees different.

That's what I regret most.

Because that meeting ultimately led to everything that followed, I feel deeply sorry. I especially feel for my daughter and my three young grandchildren, who still have their whole lives ahead of them. They've done nothing wrong, yet they continue to suffer because of me. It shouldn't be like the old "yeonjwaje" system of the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty, where family members were punished for another person's crimes.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to say?

A: I feel a profound sense of historical responsibility for having become involved in the state affairs scandal.

Like any other citizen, I hope this country can regain peace and stability, that we can have good government and that children can grow up in a country where they can live comfortably and happily.

What do I have left now? My daughter and my grandchildren — that's all. I haven't been able to celebrate a single birthday or Children's Day with them. We were allowed only one 10-minute visit each week, but as my grandchildren grew older, I worried that once they understood what a prison was, the experience would only leave them with emotional scars. So I told them not to come anymore.

If I am fortunate enough to leave prison alive, I want to travel with my grandchildren, enjoy good meals together and experience all the ordinary things that other people take for granted but that I've never had the chance to do. I want them to grow up with memories of saying, "Our grandmother did these things with us when we were little." If I could have even that opportunity in this lifetime, it would mean everything to me.

That is my only hope.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.