April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] The prosecution indicted former President Park Geun-hye on April 17 on charges including bribery and abuse of power, concluding a six-month probe into the corruption scandal that forced her out of office.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office also filed charges against ex-presidential aide Woo Byung-woo and Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin -- both without physical detention -- over allegations tied to Park’s case.

Park, who is now in prison, is accused of colluding with her confidante Choi Soon-sil to take bribes and extort donations from local firms for Choi-controlled entities. She was also charged with leaking government secrets to Choi. Woo is charged with condoning Choi’s meddling in state affairs and abusing his authority to wield undue influence under the Park administration.

Lotte tycoon Shin, who is already on trial for embezzlement and breach of trust in a separate case, faces bribery charges. He is the second chief of a local firm to be put on trial in connection with Park’s scandal, following Samsung Group’s de facto leader Lee Jae-yong.

Park, who has been in custody since late last month, will face court proceedings while remaining in detention. The criminal trial of Park is expected to begin after the May 9 presidential election to minimize the political impact it could have on the election campaign that officially began earlier in the day.

Park is suspected of colluding with Choi to extort donations worth 77.4 billion won ($69.6 million) from local firms, including Samsung Group, for the Mir and K-Sports foundations controlled by Choi in return for political favors. She is also accused of abusing her presidential authority to help Choi’s business interests.

An independent counsel team, which ended its 70-day probe into the scandal on Feb. 28, concluded that part of Samsung’s donations had been bribes made in return for political favors. Samsung’s de facto leader Lee Jae-yong is standing trial for offering or promising to offer bribes to Park and her friend Choi.

Park has denied all the charges. She said local firms voluntarily donated the money and claimed no knowledge of any illegal activities by Choi and her inner circle.

Choi, who is at the center of the corruption scandal, is already on trial for coercing donations from local firms. More than 20 people, including former presidential aides, ex-ministers and Samsung’s Lee, have been all arrested and are standing trial.

Woo, who served as a presidential secretary for civil affairs from 2015 to 2016, is believed to have played a core role in the corruption scheme involving Park and Choi.

The prosecution charged him with abetting or condoning Choi’s meddling in state affairs, disrupting a probe into Choi’s manipulation of power and exerting undue influence over personnel appointments under the Park administration.

Despite his apparent failure to perform his duty to stop corruption in the civil service, Woo has avoided legal action. The independent counsel and the prosecution sought to arrest Woo, but their requests were rejected.

In another blow to Lotte Group, whose family members are already standing trial for their involvement in embezzlement, tax evasion and fraud, its chief Shin was indicted for seeking a favor from Park to secure a business license for its duty-free shop by contributing 7 billion won to the K-Sports foundations.

The prosecution has expanded its probe into other local firms who contributed money to the Choi-controlled entities, but only Shin and Samsung’s Lee were indicted for providing the donations which the prosecution saw as bribes in exchange for favors.

The prosecution, which also brought in SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won for questioning, did not file charges against him. SK was under suspicion that it sought a special pardon for its Chairman Chey Tae-won.

Park was expelled from office on March 10, with less than a year remaining in her five-year term, in a unanimous decision by the Constitutional Court to finalize her parliamentary impeachment.

Park, who was the first woman to reach the highest office in South Korea, ended up becoming the nation’s first president to be removed from power by impeachment and the third to be arrested, following Roh Tae-woo and Chun Doo-hwan.

By Ock Hyun-ju /The Korea Herald (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)