Former presidential aide grilled

An Chong-bum, former presidential secretary for policy coordination, answers reporters while entering the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, for questioning Wednesday. An is believed to have assisted President Park Geun-hye’s confidant Choi Soon-sil in the corruption scandal. / Yonhap

Arrest warrant sought for Choi Soon-sil

By Jung Min-ho, Kim Se-jeong

A former senior presidential secretary, suspected of abusing his power to help Choi Soon-sil, the central figure in a snowballing influence-peddling scandal, turned himself in to the prosecution, Wednesday.

At the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office, An Chong-bum was questioned over allegations that he abused his authority to force conglomerates to fund the Mir and K-Sports foundations, which Choi allegedly used as personal banks.

Entering the prosecutor’s office at 1:50 p.m., he told reporters, “I’m sorry. I will take responsibility, if I did anything wrong.”

During questioning, An reportedly kept mum about his relationship with Choi. But many people involved in the scandal have claimed that he played a key role in helping Choi by “raising” 80 billion won ($72 million) from the Federation of Korean Industries (KFI), the nation’s largest business lobby group.

KFI Vice Chairman Lee Seung-cheol and Lotte officials, who previously denied the role of the former presidential secretary in the “fundraising,” have shifted their stance saying that he indeed forced them to cough up the money.

His dilemma is that, if he keeps denying all the allegations against him, it might force the prosecution’s investigation to go further up to President Park Geun-hye.

The local daily DongA Ilbo reported Wednesday that An said he did what he was told to by President Park, noting that there may have been direct communications between Park and Choi. So far, prosecutors have refused to question President Park, insisting that it would be unconstitutional.

Prosecutors believe that An and Choi worked together to collect money from business people.

Meanwhile, the prosecution is seeking an arrest warrant for Choi over her role in An’s abuse of power and attempted fraud. She has been in custody since Monday night.

Prosecutors say Choi continues to deny all the allegations.

They showed her a tablet PC which allegedly belonged to her, but she insisted that it was not hers, according to the prosecution. Media reports showed that the device contained files of presidential speeches and other important state documents, raising suspicions that Choi had access to confidential state documents and was involved in state affairs. Accessing such confidential materials violates the law regarding the security of presidential records.

Besides classified documents, the device also contained her selfies and photos of her family and friends, which led the prosecution to conclude that it belonged to Choi.

The prosecution indicated that she can also be charged with abuse of authority, despite the fact that she held no public office, taken into account that she collaborated with people in the presidential office in fundraising for the foundations and on other issues.