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The Korea Herald
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THE INVESTOR
March 29, 2024

Automobiles

Choi Soon-sil owned PR firm that blackmailed Hyundai, KT: prosecution

  • PUBLISHED :December 12, 2016 - 16:06
  • UPDATED :December 12, 2016 - 16:06
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[THE INVESTOR] The PR firm Playground Communications, which put pressure on large companies such as Hyundai Motor and KT for major advertisement deals, was found to have been operated by Choi Soon-sil, a close friend of President Park Geun-hye, who is at the center of the influence-peddling scandal that led to her impeachment.

Wrapping up a two-month investigation into the scandal, the prosecution on Dec. 11 confirmed the initial investment of 100 million won (US$85,187) to establish Playground Communication was fully funded by Choi. 




The PR firm was seen to be owned 70 percent by Choi, 20 percent by Cha Eun-taek, an associate of the former who ran the company, and the rest of 10 percent divided between two employees. But the prosecution found that the company was entirely owned by Choi, who concealed the ownership under an alias.

“Choi operated the company and made all the decisions,” an official from the prosecution said. “The ownership structure was modified to cast away any doubts.”

Since its initiation in October 2015, Playground Communications has clinched 1.3 billion won worth of advertisement contracts from Hyundai Motor and another 5.5 billion won deal from local telecom giant KT.

According to the prosecution, An Chong-bum, former senior presidential secretary for policy coordination, allegedly ordered Hyundai and KT executives to hand over the advertisement deals to the firm, saying it was the president’s will.

The prosecution concluded President Park was an accomplice of helping Choi and other key executives extort billions of won and favors from South Korea’s large companies in the influence-peddling scandal. The case is now being handled by the independent counsel team established to investigate the scandal.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)

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