By Chung Hyun-chae
Ko Young-tae, a key witness in the corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil, will appear as a witness in the criminal trial of Choi and former presidential secretary An Chong-bum, today.
The two are on trial on charges of abuse of authority and extortion.
This will be the first time that Ko and Choi will face each other after the influence-peddling scandal broke out in October 2016. There were rumors that the two were romantically involved, something alleged last week by President Park’s lawyers at her impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court.
They claimed the scandal was nothing but the fallout of a private relationship gone sour, with Park playing no role in it.
During the hearing, the Choi is expected to ask questions directly to Ko, a rare arrangement in a trial.
Korean law exceptionally allows a defendant to ask a witness questions with the consent of the judges.
Ko had been out of contact for a while after giving damaging testimony against Park and Choi during a National Assembly hearing in December. Some even raised the possibility that something untoward had happened to him.
Ko, a business partner of Choi and the former head of The Blue K, a paper company she set up, was the first person to openly speak out on the influence-peddling scandal, which eventually led to the President’s impeachment.
He is likely to testify in support of the allegations that Choi pressured conglomerates to donate a huge amount of money to the Mir and K-Sports foundations that she controlled in exchange for business favors.
Choi has denied these allegations, saying Ko’s statements were unreliable.
Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court plans to deliver a subpoena to Ko summoning him to appear as a witness at the 12th impeachment hearing.