Park's Sewol answer far from adequate: court

Hearing fizzles out due to 3 key witnesses’ absence

By Lee Kyung-min

The Constitutional Court has asked defense attorneys representing President Park Geun-hye to give more details about what she was doing on the day of the Sewol ferry sinking, saying her initial reply was insufficient.

At the third official hearing on the impeachment of Park, Tuesday, the justices said the 15-page document submitted earlier in the day by the lawyers failed to specify what Park did, and whom she met and where.

Park’s alleged absence for seven hours during the ferry disaster is one of the charges in the impeachment motion, as the National Assembly prosecutorial panel claimed the absence constitutes dereliction of duty in failing to protect the lives of the people.

“We earlier asked Park to give us a first-hand account of the day in as much detail as possible, but what we received today was only about orders she allegedly gave to safety authorities,” said Judge Lee Jin-sung, the head of the court.

The court said the submitted documents, for example, failed to include records of calls between Park and Kim Jang-soo, then at the National Security Office, weakening her claim that Kim repeatedly briefed her on the situation in real time via telephone.

The documents also showed inconsistencies in Park’s claims.

They said the President was informed of the sinking in her office within her residence inside Cheong Wa Dae in person by two presidential secretaries — An Bong-geun in the morning and Jeong Ho-seong after lunch.

However, the documents also stated elsewhere that only Army nurse Captain Shin Bo-ra and two hairstylists visited the residence that day, contradicting the claim of the two secretaries’ visits.

They also failed to specify exactly when An and Jeong came to report on the sinking.

Park’s side tried to dismiss criticism over her staying in the residence instead of her office in the main building, by saying former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun often did this.

Park’s lawyers also dismissed the charge of dereliction of duty, saying she did everything she could for the rescue operation.

The hearing, other than commentary on the documents, failed to produce tangible progress as three key witnesses all refused to attend citing their ongoing criminal trials.

Park’s confidant Choi Soon-sil, the key figure in the influence-peddling scandal, and two former presidential secretaries — An Chong-bum and Jeong — have been indicted on numerous charges including abuse of power, coercion, attempted fraud, extortion and mishandling of state documents.

In a written statement, Jeong earlier asked the court to postpone summoning him as a witness until after a hearing for his own trial scheduled for Jan. 18. The court accepted the request and said he should attend the Jan 19 hearing.

Choi and An also said they could not attend, saying it would affect their own trials and the ongoing investigation by the independent counsel. The court ordered them to come, Jan. 16, adding it would seek forcible measures to bring them to the court if they again refuse to attend.

Choi has been criticized for choosing to attend only hearings that protect her own interests. She told the court she could not attend the hearing because of the counsel team’s investigation, while she told the team she could not come for questioning because of the court hearing.

But she appeared at the hearing of her own trial even when her attendance was not a must, in an apparent move to solicit leniency.