Choi scandal: Alleged 'excavator executioner' indicted

The prosecution has indicted a man who allegedly rammed his excavator into the country’s top prosecution building near the office where President Park Geun-hye’s close confidant Choi Soon-sil was questioned over her involvement in a suspected influence-peddling scandal. / Yonhap

By Lee Jin-a

The prosecution has indicted a man who allegedly drove his excavator up the front steps of Korea’s top prosecution building to “execute” Choi Soon-sil, a close friend of President Park Geun-hye who is at the center of an influence-peddling scandal.

According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Wednesday, a man surnamed Jeong was charged with driving into the building on Nov. 1 and damaging property worth of 150 million won ($128,700). He was also charged with injuring a security guard who blocked him from breaking into the building.

During the investigation, the man, 45, said he went there to help Choi die after she told reporters she “deserves death.”

Police found that Jeong felt great hostility to Choi, who enjoyed a luxury life by allegedly exploiting her relationship with Park, while he was jobless and economically distressed.

After watching Choi’s interview on Oct. 31 before prosecutors questioned her, Jeong decided to vent his anger at the prosecutors’ office where Choi was to be questioned. The next morning he drove from a motel in Sunchang, North Jeolla Province, with the excavator on the back of a truck. He unloaded the excavator and drove it toward the building at 8:20 a.m.

But the building he attacked was the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho, southern Seoul, across from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office where Choi appeared for questioning.