Cheong Wa Dae destroys possible 'smoking gun' to Sewol controversy

By Jun Ji-hye

Cheong Wa Dae has destroyed surveillance camera recordings that opposition lawmakers claim could have shown what President Park Geun-hye was doing while the Sewol ferry was sinking on April 16, 2014.

The cameras are installed at Park’s residence inside the presidential complex. Cheong Wa Dae has said Park was working at a private office at her residence, not in her main office, at the time of the disaster, without giving further details.

This has fueled suspicions she was doing something she cannot reveal while the ship was sinking.

Lee Young-seok, deputy chief of the Presidential Security Service, said Monday the recordings from CCTVs installed at Park’s residence do not exist anymore as the presidential office erased them after a given period expired as set by “internal rules.”

Lee made the comment during a session of the National Assembly investigation into the corruption and influence-peddling scandal involving Park and her longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil.

Rep. Lee Yong-ju of the second-largest opposition People’s Party said the presidential office should have preserved the CCTV records considering the high-profile controversy over what Park was doing during the critical hours. The government’s bungled response is largely blamed for the deaths of 304 people in the country’s worst maritime disaster.

The lawmaker said the records could have shown what Park was doing and who visited her on April 16, 2014, but the presidential office erased the crucial records.

Owing to the lack of explanation of her whereabouts on the day, rumors have abounded that she might have been undergoing plastic surgery or another medical procedure such as wrinkle treatment.

“Former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon might have ordered other staff not to submit any data related to the disaster,” the lawmaker said. “Then, the presidential secretariat, together with the Presidential Security Service and the National Security Office, probably were able to hide and erase all data.”

The lawmaker said there is no reason to hide the CCTV recordings if nobody entered Park’s residence on the day of the disaster.

“The presidential office should have stored the recordings if it had wanted to resolve the controversy surrounding Park’s whereabouts,” he said.

In response, the deputy security chief said, “We erased the records in accordance with our internal rules after the preservation period ended.”

The presidential office said earlier that the President carried out her official duties during the ferry disaster mostly in a private office at her residence, noting that Park received about 30 briefings and issued directives related to the tragedy as it unfolded.

But critics argued that the explanation was not enough for the public to understand the absence of its head of state during the sinking, and the government’s bungled management of rescue operations.

Other lawmakers also added weight to suspicions the President was receiving cosmetic procedures on the day of the disaster.

Rep. Park Young-sun of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) showed two photos of the President taken before and after the sinking of the Sewol ferry, alleging she may have been receiving Botox injections.

Rep. An Min-suk, also from the DPK, showed a list of medicine that the presidential office purchased, including placenta injections that are known to be effective in preventing aging.

An visited the U.S. from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2 to interview a Korean Army nurse, identified only as Capt. Cho, who worked at the presidential office in 2014 and is believed to be a key witness to Park’s seven missing hours. But he failed to meet and interview her.

The nurse, who is currently taking a course at a U.S. Army hospital in Texas, instead held an interview with Korean correspondents in the U.S., Nov. 30, during which she said Park received no treatments from medical staff on the day of the ferry disaster.

When asked whether Park usually received Botox treatments or other cosmetic procedures, Cho said, “Not that I know of.”

She also refused to answer questions on whether Park received various nutritional injections or used outside medical facilities, citing patient confidentiality.

For his part, presidential chief of staff Han Gwang-ok told lawmakers, “I don’t agree with your arguments as they are all speculative, which can only cause misunderstandings.”