South Korea's 'female Rasputin' returns to face scandal that has engulfed President Park
Park Geun-hye’s friend Choi Soon-sil has been in Germany amid a deepening crisis back home over allegations she that enjoyed inappropriate influence over the president
The woman at the heart of a lurid political scandal engulfing South Korean President Park Geun-Hye returned to the country Sunday to face accusations of influence-peddling and meddling in state affairs.
Choi, who has been holed up in Germany since early September flew into Seoul early Sunday morning on a flight from London, her lawyer Lee Kyung-jae said.
“Choi told me she will cooperate with the investigation and expressed her deep apology to the people for letting them down and causing them frustration,” Lee said.
Choi has spoken with prosecutors to schedule her questioning, Lee said.
In the midst of the political crisis, Park has accepted the resignations of five of the top presidential aides, including the chief of staff, the presidential office said on Sunday.
Three long-time Park aides, the insular core of advisors who have been criticised of tightly controlling the access to the president, had also stepped down, according to the presidential office.
Park’s office said on Friday she ordered her senior secretaries to tender their resignations.
The past week has a seen a daily diet of increasingly sensational media reports regarding Choi, the 60-year-old daughter of a shadowy religious leader and one-time Park mentor.
Invoking a lurid back-story of religious cults, shamanist rituals and corruption, the reports have portrayed Choi as a Rasputin-like figure whose influence extended to vetting presidential speeches and advising on key appointments and policy issues.
In an interview with South Korea’s Segye Ilbo newspaper published on Thursday, Choi said she received drafts of Park’s speeches after Park’s election victory but denied she had access to other official material, or that she influenced state affairs or benefited financially.
“As her attorney, I think the case must be thoroughly investigated and the truth be told to prevent any further eruption of speculation that goes beyond fantasy,” Lee said.
More than 10,000 people took to the streets of Seoul on Saturday evening, calling on Park to resign and for Choi to be prosecuted. There were similar protests elsewhere, including the country’s second largest city, Busan.
Analysts say the scandal could paralyse Park’s administration, underling her lame-duck status ahead of presidential elections in December next year.
Choi is the daughter of the late Choi Tae-min, who married six times, had multiple pseudonyms and set up his own religious group known as the Church of Eternal Life.
Choi Tae-min befriended a traumatised Park after the 1974 assassination of her mother, who he said had appeared to him in a dream, asking him to help her daughter.
He became a long-time mentor to Park, who subsequently formed a close bond with Choi Soon-Sil that endured after Choi Tae-min’s death in 1994.
Choi Soon-sil’s ex-husband served as a top aide to Park until her presidential election victory in 2012.
Additional reporting by Reuters