'Choi spent big on cosmetic treatment'

Kim Young-jae, left, a cosmetic surgeon, answers lawmakers at the National Assembly, Dec. 14, during the parliamentary hearing into an influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil. / Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun

Lawmaker found a cash receipt for 40 million won

By Chung Hyu-chae

President Park Geun-hye’s confidant Choi Soon-sil, the central figure in the ongoing influence-peddling scandal, spent up to 40 million won ($33,000) in one day on cosmetic treatments, according to the National Assembly special committee investigating the case, Sunday.

Rep. Hwang Young-chul of the ruling Saenuri Party, a member of the committee, said he obtained a 2013 receipt for the amount from the Kim Young-jae Plastic Surgery Clinic where Choi has long been a regular patient.

The revelation came after committee members visited the clinic in southern Seoul, Dec. 16, as part of the probe into the scandal, during which they found she had received 136 treatments between October 2013 and August this year under a fake name.

According to Hwang, Choi made two additional payments _ 18 million won on Oct. 28, 2014 and 21 million won on Dec. 31, 2015. The total cost of anti-aging treatments reached 79 million won.

All the payments were made in cash, and the receipts didn’t mention her name, but the tax code written on the cash receipt matched Choi’s.

“I am stunned that Choi spent such a huge amount on cosmetic treatments,” Hwang said during an interview with Yonhap News Agency. “That can be equivalent to double the annual income for an ordinary household.”

Her method of payment raised questions about her intentions. “This kind of abnormal payment is an attempt to hide her identity,” Hwang said. Paying in cash is often used to hide identities on receipts. But, Hwang suspected Choi would have wanted a tax return for the payment.

Meanwhile, Choi may also face an additional charge of drug abuse as it was found that she received the addictive anesthetic propofol at the clinic almost once a week over the past three years. Choi already faces charges of abuse of power, extortion and coercion.

Choi, allegedly, invited the surgeon Kim to Cheong Wa Dae to perform cosmetic treatment on President Park Geun-hye on the day of the Sewol disaster on April 16, 2014.

Kim denied the allegation during a recent congressional hearing. “I visited Cheong Wa Dae to see her earlier that year, but it was because of a scar on her face.” Park was attacked by a man who lunged at her with a knife in 2006.

Cheong Wa Dae also issued a statement denouncing the allegation, but it has so far failed to give a clear explanation on where Park was in the presidential office complex and what she was doing.