South Korean prosecutors said Tuesday it is realistically impossible for them to conduct an interview with President Park Geun-hye on the corruption scandal involving her and her aides, adding that it will “not be easy” to accuse her for bribery before an independent counsel takes over the investigation.

The prosecution has sought to call in Park for questioning to see if bribery should be included among her alleged crimes. It has already named the president as a suspect and accomplice to her old friend Choi Soon-sil and her former Senior Secretary An Chong-bum on a series of corruption allegations.

Park, in a reversal of an earlier pledge to fully cooperate with the probe, snubbed the prosecution yet again Monday on its request for an interview.

“Based on the situation now, I think it won’t be easy to reach such an important decision (on an accusation of bribery). We will do our best, but it will not be easy,” said an official from the prosecution. “We still believe that a face-to-face interview is necessary.” Calling Park’s decision not to comply with the investigation “unfortunate,” he said the investigation by an independent counsel will kick off as soon as the members are appointed by Park.

The main suspicions surrounding Park, Choi and An involve allegedly coercing conglomerates to contribute 77.4 billion won ($66.2 million) to the Mir Foundation and K-Sports Foundation, two nonprofit organizations suspected to have been used to channel funds to Choi and, ultimately, Park’s inner circle.

The prosecution has been trying to prove that the donations made to the two foundations -- along with extra donations by companies such as SK and Lotte, and financial support from Samsung to the Choi family -- had amounted to bribery.

Park has denied taking part in any criminal activities. In a public address Tuesday, she said she “never pursued personal benefits” during her 18-year political career.

The president said she had pushed ahead with the “series of problems currently occurring,” as it was necessary for the country’s benefit. She was referring to the establishment of the Mir and K-Sports foundations and other allegations related to the Choi scandal. Park declined to answer questions from reporters.

Prosecutors also did not comment on Park’s statement, saying it was “not appropriate” for them to do so. Since Park was named a suspect in their investigation last week, Park has changed her stance on the probe, vowing not to cooperate with the prosecution.

Nationwide discontent for Park has grown, with 1.9 million people calling for her resignation Saturday across the country. Her approval rating also fell to 4 percent last week, according to Gallop Korea.

A survey of 1,011 citizens by Rep. Song Young-gil of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea showed that 59.1 percent of respondents thought the authorities should arrest Park and investigate her.

The prosecution has ruled out the possibility of the president’s arrest.

Meanwhile, investigators looking into former TV commercial director Cha Eun-taek -- accused of using his relationship with Choi for personal benefit -- found he used Choi’s influence to ensure his associates were appointed to high-ranking government posts.

Cha reportedly told the prosecution he recommended Choi Kim Jong-deok and Kim Sang-ryul, as culture minister and senior presidential secretary for education and culture, respectively. Kim Jong-deok taught Cha when he attended Hongik University. Kim Sang-ryul is his uncle.

Both were appointed to their positions in 2014, leading to suspicions that Cha’s recommendations were relayed to Park via Choi. Later in the year, Cha’s acquaintance Song Sung-gak was appointed as chief of the Korea Creative Content Agency.

Song and Cha were arrested on charges of threatening an advertising agency to hand over its shares of Poreka -- the former in-house ad firm of Posco -- to Cha’s new company. A transcript of Song’s conversation showed that Song told the agency chief the authorities would conduct a tax investigation to “bury him” if he refused to hand over Poreka.

Former Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Ki-choon is also accused of hiding Choi’s illegal activities,

Kim, however, denied being acquainted with Choi, despite Cha claiming to have met Kim under Choi’s orders.

By Yoon Min-sik ()


minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com