Prosecutors question Choi Soon-sil over link with S. Korean gov’t

World Today

The woman at the center of a political scandal that’s engulfed South Korea’s presidential office has been summoned by prosecutors for questioning. CCTV’s U-Jean Jung reports the story.

The woman at the center of a political scandal that’s engulfed South Korea’s presidential office has been summoned by prosecutors for questioning.

That, after Choi Soon-sil returned from Germany on Sunday, where she’d been in hiding following damning revelations linked to President Park Geun-hye.

CCTV’s U-Jean Jung reports the story.

Follow U-Jean Jung on Twitter @ujeanjung

Choi Soon-sil, a longtime friend of President Park Geun-hye, appeared in front of the media for the first time on Monday, before entering the prosecutor’s office.

Choi is being accused of influencing state affairs as a private citizen and using her friendship with the president to extract funds worth $7 million from businesses for two foundations, then to appropriate some of that money for her personal use.

President Park gave a rare televised apology on Tuesday, acknowledging consulting Choi on some speech drafts early in her term.

Experts in Seoul said, the public has lost all faith in the current administration.

Park’s approval ratings dipped to a record low of 14 percent in the following days and thousands protested in central Seoul on Saturday, demanding Park to step down.

Similar anti-government protests, small and big, might happen in various spots in Seoul on Monday. Low approval ratings for presidents in their last year in office is typical in Seoul, but for President Park Geun-hye, it is a more serious matter, as she still has more than a year left of her single-term presidency.


Professor Sung-Yoon Lee on South Korea political scandal

For more on the presidential crisis rocking the Republic of Korea, CCTV America’s Susan Roberts spoke with professor Sung-Yoon Lee, Kim Koo-Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Studies at The Fletcher School at Tufts University.