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| Visual arts director Cha Eun-taek, left, a key figure in the influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye's confidant Choi Soon-sil, walks with former Culture Minister Kim Jong-deok, right, and former CEO of the Korea Creative Content Agency Song Sung-gak, center, at the creative convergence center in downtown Seoul in this December file photo. Cha is suspected of helping Song and Kim, his longtime acquaintances, take government positions through his connection with Choi. / Yonhap |
Cha's whereabouts still unknown
By Lee Kyung-min
Calls are mounting for the investigative authorities to locate visual arts director Cha Eun-taek, one of the key figures in the influence-peddling scandal involving Choi Soon-sil, a close confidant of President Park Geun-hye.
Cha, who left for China about two months ago, has yet to return to Korea despite telling local media last week that he would come back soon to face questioning. It is not clear whether he is still in China or not.
It is said that Cha is a member of Choi's secret advisory group to Park. It is also alleged that he was the de-facto operator of the Mir and K-Sports foundations that were established by Choi with the culture ministry's unusually prompt approval last October. Cha is suspected of hiring his close friends for high positions in the foundations.
Cha is widely referred to as the "crown prince" of the culture sector due to his meteoric rise to fame after being appointed as a member of the Presidential Committee for Cultural Enrichment in August 2014. Before securing the position, he was a noted director of TV commercials and music videos including Psy's "Hangover."
According to Do Jong-hwan of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Choi recommended Cha for the high position in the state agency after Cha helped a family member of Choi's find work in the entertainment industry.
Less than three months after he joined the presidential committee, three key high-ranking government positions were filled with people close to him.
On Aug. 21, two days after his appointment, his graduate school professor at Hongik University Kim Jong-deok was named culture minister.
Three months later, Cha's uncle Kim Sang-ryul, a Sookmyung Women's University professor, was appointed as presidential secretary of education and culture.
A month later in December, Song Sung-gak, who had been Cha's friend for years, was named president and CEO of the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA).
Cha became close to Song, a former senior producer at Cheil Worldwide, in 2005 after Song gave him work making TV commercials. Song resigned from the KOCCA post Monday. Prosecutors raided KOCCA offices in Naju, South Jeolla Province, and Seoul, as well as his residence, Wednesday.
In April last year, Cha was named director of the creative convergence center under the Creative Economy Initiative, which runs the Culture Creation Convergence Belt, one of the culture ministry's major projects with an annual budget earmarked at 90.3 billion won ($80 million) this year, and 127 billion won next year.
President Park participated in multiple cultural events organized by Cha, and this has influenced the culture industry, as well as prompted public attention to these events.
The prosecution raided three companies run by Cha over allegations that the firms landed commercial contracts from state-run companies and conglomerates through personal connections. One of the three companies, Africa Pictures, won 11 out of 24 advertising deals with mobile carrier KT this year.
During a National Assembly inspection last month, the allegation was raised that the Financial Services Commission gave Africa Pictures a financial sector reform campaign that was not initially included in its budget.
