Arrest warrant requested for Chung Yoo-ra

Chung Yoo-ra, walks into the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, Friday, for a hearing over an arrest warrant requested for her. / Yonhap

By Jung Min-ho

Prosecutors requested an arrest warrant Friday for the 21-year-old daughter of Choi Soon-sil, the central figure in the corruption and influence peddling scandal that cost former President Park Geun-hye her job.

Judge Kang Bu-young at the Seoul Central District Court will make a decision about whether to issue the warrant for Chung Yoo-ra, who was extradited from Denmark, Wednesday.

Chung is suspected of having received inappropriate academic favors and financial support for many years, owing to her mother’s friendship with the former president.

Prosecutors have been questioning her since they took her into custody upon her arrival at Incheon International Airport. But so far, she has denied any involvement in illegal activities, pinning the blame on her mother.

If issued, prosecutors can detain her 20 more days for further questioning.

“She appears to be playing the innocent,” a prosecution official said. “She seemed to have been advised and prepared for the questioning.”

Chung allegedly entered Ewha in 2015 despite inadequate qualifications and received higher grades than she deserved despite not attending classes. The school canceled her admission, following the Education Ministry’s confirmation of the irregularities.

Former Ewha President Choi Kyung-hee and four other professors have been indicted on charges of giving her favors.

Speaking to reporters, Wednesday, Chung claimed she “never wanted to go to university” and it was her mother who put her in the school against her wishes, saying “I don’t even know what my major was.”

She is also accused of conspiring with her mother to receive bribes from major companies, including Samsung. Prosecutors are investigating whether she was directly involved in doing so and how much she was aware of Choi’s alleged crimes.

What’s obvious for now is that she is the biggest beneficiary of the dubious money from the companies. In one case, Samsung allegedly sent 7.8 billion won ($7 million) to her and Choi when they were in Germany from September 2015 to October.

When asked how she got all the money for her expensive horses and living expenses, Chung claimed she knows nothing about it.

Prosecutors are hoping that they can find more about Choi’s secrets and her friendship with the former president.

Much of the scandal remains a mystery, and the public is especially curious about how much money Choi actually has. There were reports that her assets are worth more than 800 billion won, but many suspect that this is far less than money she is hiding overseas.