Special prosecutor vows no-holds-barred investigation
Lawyer Park Young-soo, who has been appointed as an independent counsel to lead a special team investigating the influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil, said at his office in southern Seoul, Wednesday, that he will conduct the investigation according to the principle of the law. / Yonhap
By Jung Min-ho
President Park Geun-hye has selected lawyer Park Young-soo as an independent counsel to investigate the sprawling corruption scandal involving her and her confidant Choi Soon-sil.
The beleaguered President chose Park Young-soo, who worked as a prosecutor for nearly 30 years until 2009, Wednesday, over Cho Seung-shik, also a well-known former prosecutor. Opposition parties recommended the two as candidates for independent counsel the previous day.
Park Young-soo will lead a special investigation team, which is expected to start work next week with more than 100 investigators, including 20 current prosecutors. The team will be given 20 days to prepare for the case and up to 100 days to investigate.
“I will carry out a thorough investigation according to the rule of law to uncover the truth,” he told reporters at his office in southern Seoul. “I feel a heavy responsibility taking this job at a critical time for the country.”
The team’s most important task is to find out whether President Park played a key role in “donations” major companies gave to Choi, allegedly as bribes for specific favors as is widely suspected. The job will require questioning the President, who promised to cooperate with the probe _ again _ after breaking her word to do so with the prosecution previously.
“The President said she will fully cooperate with the team’s investigation, including face-to-face questioning,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Jung Youn-kuk said. “She hopes the work to be done promptly and thoroughly.”
If the team can link Park to the alleged bribery, it could put her behind bars for more than a decade after her presidency ends. So far, she has been accused of crimes expected to result in shorter prison sentences, including abuse of authority and mishandling of state secrets, according to the prosecution.
Another important task on the team’s shoulders is to find out what the President did during the crucial first seven hours after the Sewol ferry began sinking on April 16, 2014, killing over 300 people. Speculations abound over the seven missing hours, but little is clear.
Much has been disclosed about the scandal since the prosecution started its investigation, including funds “donated” to the shady foundations Choi and her friends controlled, and their connections with high-level government officials. But many suspect the team still has much to uncover, including how many more government officials and lawmakers received Choi’s help in obtaining their posts and whether the woman also influenced diplomatic and military policies.
Many also want to know whether any prosecutors have been part of Choi’s corruption chain. Since the beginning of the investigation, they have been accused of being slow and passive. When the prosecution did not apprehend Choi upon her arrival at Incheon International Airport, Oct. 30, it was criticized for giving her time to destroy evidence and coordinate her story with her accomplices.
The prosecution has also appeared reluctant to investigate Kim Ki-choon and Woo Byung-woo, who were former senior prosecutors and presidential secretaries, despite many clues suggesting their connection with Choi. Many suspect the prosecutors may be concerned about revelations of their own wrongdoings.
The prosecution belatedly announced Wednesday that it has been looking into Kim and Woo over allegations they abused their authority to assist Choi.
Kim, former presidential chief of staff from 2013 to 2015, is suspected of telling Kim Chong, former vice culture minister, to dismiss six senior ministry officials in October 2014 for being uncooperative in dealing with a corruption case involving Choi’s daughter, Chung Yoo-ra. All of them offered their resignation and actually left their government jobs.
Woo, meanwhile, is suspected of intentionally disregarding Choi’s illegal activities with high-ranking government officials. As presidential secretary for civil affairs from May 2014 to this October, it was his duty to monitor high-profile government figures for signs of corruption.