People's eyes fixed on Choi Soon-sil's mouth

An army of photo journalists and TV camera crews are waiting for Choi Soon-sil at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Monday. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

By Park Si-soo

What will she say? People’s eyes are fixed on the mouth of Choi Soon-sil, the central figure of the largest political scandal against President Park Geun-hye.

The alleged eminence grise of the Park administration is set to appear at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on Monday 3 p.m.

An army of reporters, photo journalists and TV camera crews are flocking to the office from early in the morning, flexing their muscles to capture her every move, gesture and even eye-blink, and record every single word from her mouth.

No matter what she says, it will certainly do more harm than good to Park’s leadership, which is already on the brink of collapse. How the situation will unfold will be decided by what she drops during today’s questioning.

Is prosecution trustworthy?

The prosecution has promised a "thorough" investigation of the case, but critics doubt it, pointing out what they claim is the prosecution’s “suspicious” deeds before and during Choi’s return to Seoul through Incheon International Airport on Sunday morning.

Unlike previous high-profile scandals in which the prosecution used to take immediate custody of key suspects arriving from overseas at the airport, this time the prosecution showed an "unprecedented" generosity of giving Choi one day of rest before questioning, which was long enough to destroy evidence or coordinate her story with other people involved in the scandal.

Other allegations have it that Choi set foot on Korean soil under the tight protection of investigators from the prosecutors’ office, part of a premeditated plan to keep her away from relentless scoop-hungry reporters and let her have post-air travel relaxation at a secret residence, preparing for today’s questioning.

The Korea Times will keep our readers informed of this unprecedented influence-peddling scandal through all channels we have -- newspaper, website and social media.