Opposition politicians Tuesday cried foul over the accelerating investigation by state prosecutors on the Choi Soon-sil scandal, saying the probe lacks sincerity and may even be a show to appease public censure.

A whirlwind of events have taken place in the past few days: the return from overseas of Choi’s key men and herself on Sunday, the prosecution’s “search by voluntary cooperation” of Cheong Wa Dae and finally Choi’s appearance Monday at the prosecution some 32 hours after her arrival in Seoul. These may have been part of a “prearranged scenario” prepared by the shared inner circle of President Park Geun-hye and Choi, they claimed.

“I believe that Park’s former Chief of Staff Kim Ki-choon, Civil Affairs Secretary Woo Byung-woo and their team apparently put together by Choi have embarked on a covert operation to cover up their crimes,” said Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the second-largest opposition People’s Party.

Kim served as the chief of the presidential secretariat from August 2013 to February 2015. Woo, a former state prosecutor, joined the secretariat in April 2014 until he was replaced Sunday by Choi Jai-kyeong, another prosecutorial figure said to have close ties to Kim.

Both Kim and Woo are accused of condoning or even actively aiding Choi’s string-pulling behind the scenes by using her 40-year-long ties to President Park.

“Under the direction of Woo, they are trying to cover this up and make it look like Choi’s personal failure that she went overboard to edit presidential speeches and conduct irregularities,” Rep. Park Jie-won of the People’s Party said.

“They are now making up the story and destroying evidence,” he claimed.

Fueling such suspicion was the prosecution, which waited 33 hours to call Choi -- the main suspect in its probe -- in for questioning. Choi arrived at Incheon Airport at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday and was summoned for questioning only at 3 p.m. on Monday.

During this time, Choi could have consulted with others who are also facing questioning in the investigation to match their statements or destroy evidence, the opposition lawmakers said.

“This is the biggest favor ever given by prosecutors to a suspect in this country,” Rep. Choo Mi-ae of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea said.

The prosecutors said Monday that they secured seven boxes of documents from Cheong Wa Dae in their two-day raid, which was conducted without even entering the premise.

Investigators, having been denied access to the offices of presidential aides, made requests for certain documents and Cheong Wa Dae provided them, they said.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)