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Agence France-Presse

Friends and associates of the woman at the heart of a corruption scandal engulfing South Korean President Park Geun-hye told a hearing Wednesday her influence extended over everything from Park’s wardrobe to senior appointments.
The impeachment-threatened Park has been accused of letting long-time confidante Choi Soon-Sil meddle in a wide range of state affairs, and ordering aides to leak confidential documents to Choi, who has no official title or security clearance.

The president is also suspected of colluding with Choi in strong-arming major conglomerates into donating funds to two dubious foundations Choi controlled.
A Rasputin in Korea bleeds President Park
A major parliamentary hearing on the scandal has summoned the country’s most powerful business tycoons as well as Choi’s close associates, including a prominent K-pop video director and a fashion designer.

Cha Eun-taek, who once made videos for Gangnam Style star Psy, said Choi had once asked him to recommend potential candidates for culture minister and a presidential advisor on culture.
The names he put forward to Choi ended up getting the jobs.
“So I thought ... ‘What kind of person could possibly do something like this?’” Cha told lawmakers, describing Choi’s ties with Park as “extremely close”.

Choi, whose influence over Park has led to her being called “Korea’s Rasputin”, has refused to testify to the investigative parliamentary committee despite warnings from lawmakers that she could be jailed for contempt.
Another member of her inner circle, a young designer named Koh Young-tae whose relationship with Choi has been the subject of lurid media gossip, testified to the power Choi appeared to wield over senior administration officials.

He particularly noted her treatment of Kim Chong, a former vice sports minister who is now under arrest on charges of awarding lucrative contracts to Choi and trying to help her meddle in preparations for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
“Choi constantly gave orders to Kim ... as if he was her personal assistant,” Koh told the televised hearing.

He also suggested Choi had controlled the president’s wardrobe choices, saying he provided Choi with about 100 items of clothing and up to 40 bags that he saw Park wearing in public for years.
The scandal has sparked mass rallies across South Korea, with protestors calling Park a “puppet” of the Choi family and demanding she resign immediately.

At the start of Wednesday’s hearing, the chair of the parliamentary committee issued orders compelling Choi and members of her family to appear or face possible jail time for contempt.
Choi had been slated to answer questions on Wednesday, but refused the summons, citing health reasons and the need to prepare for her pending trial.


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Park Geun-hye

From clothes to senior appointments: Aides to Korean ‘Rasputin’ testify to her power

From left: Sohn Kyung-shik, chairman of CJ Group, Koo Bon-moo, chairman of LG Group, Kim Seung-yeon, CEO of Hanhwa Group, Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Corporation, Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung, Shin Dong-bin, chairman of Lotte Group, Cho Yang-ho, chairman of Hanjin Group and Chung Mong-koo, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, take oath during a parliamentary hearing on the Choi Soon-sil gate probe. Photo: EPA

Witnesses take an oath during a hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016. A South Korean parliamentary committee on Wednesday ordered Choi Soon-sil, the jailed woman at the center of a scandal, that threatens to bring down President Park Geun-hye to attend a hearing investigating her alleged manipulation of government affairs. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, Pool)

Former Vice Sports Minister Kim Chong is surrounded by the media upon his arrival at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. South Korean prosecutors on Wednesday questioned Kim over an explosive political scandal that's threatening Park Geun-hye's presidency and could spill over to preparations for the 2018 Winter Olympics. (Suh Myong-geon/Yonhap via AP)

epa05657653 Masses of protesters gather and occupy major streets in the Seoul city center for a rally against South Korean President Park Geun-hye, in Seoul, South Korea, 03 December 2016. Park addressed to the nation earlier this week that she would leave it to the Parliament to decide if she should step down from her presidency after her friend Choi Soon-sil was charged with corrupt influence over state affairs. EPA/CHUNG SUNG-JUN / POOL

epa05663399 South Korean artistic director Cha Eun-taek (front C), who is a key suspect in the influence-peddling scandal involving a close friend of South Korean President Park Geun-hye, and Kim Chong (C, middle ground), former vice culture minister, are escorted by officers as they arrive to answers questions at a parliamentary hearing in the Choi Soon-sil gate probe at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, 07 December 2016. South Korea started a parliament hearing with key witnesses, all connected to the president's confidante Choi Soon-sil, suspected of arranging various favors for Choi, often by twisting the arms of conglomerates and government agencies. EPA/KIM MIN-HEE/POOL

FILE - In this Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016, file photo, South Korean protesters wearing masks of South Korean President Park Geun-hye, right, and her confidante Choi Soon-sil, who is at the center of a political scandal, attend a rally calling for Park to step down in downtown Seoul. There’s more Disney than street-fighting at protests meant to force President Park from power over corruption allegations. Yet they share an important quality with past violent rallies: Now, as then, a huge popular movement is on the verge of pushing out a deeply unpopular leader. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

File photo shows South Korean President Park Geun Hye. South Korean prosecutors said on Nov. 27, 2016, that the president is suspected of colluding with her indicted confidante Choi Soon Sil in forcing conglomerates to give advertising contracts to an ad agency set up by Choi and an associate. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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