South Korean prosecutors plan to summon former Presidential Secretary An Chong-bum on Wednesday on his alleged connection to the scandal that President Park Geun-hye allowed her old friend Choi Soon-sil to meddle in state affairs, officials said Tuesday.

Senior Presidential Secretary for Policy Coordination An is believed to have played a part in raising funds worth some 80 billion won (S$97 million) for Mir Foundation and K-Sports Foundation, which was then illegally channeled to Choi.

Choi, the daughter of Park’s late mentor and cult leader Choi Tae-min, was apprehended on emergency 48-hour detention early morning on a series of suspicions that include illegal access to presidential documents, bribery and the illegal use of public funds.

Investigators are expected to request an arrest warrant Wednesday.

Jung Hyun-sik, a former secretary general of the K-Sports Foundation, told local media that An had instructed him to demand 8 billion won from SK Group.

According to data from Chaebul.com, a total of 53 corporations had donated a combined 77.4 billion won to the foundations. Hyundai Motor led the group with 6.88 billion won, followed by SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics with 6.8 billion won and 6 billion won, respectively.

But 12 companies had made contributions while reporting losses, fueling suspicions that they were pressured to make the donations.

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Choi accused of interfering in state affairs using relationship with President

Source:

AFP

Reuters

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The prosecution has already raided An’s home and his office in Cheong Wa Dae to look for evidence concerning the allegations.

The prosecution has stepped up its investigation into the Choi scandal, visiting eight banks with a search warrant as of Tuesday to investigate the financial transactions of those with links to the scandal.

In a bid to acquire financial transaction records of those related to the allegations, investigators visited headquarters of eight banks – Woori Bank, Standard Chartered Bank Korea, Shinhan Bank, KB Bank, KEB Hana Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea, Citibank Korea and Nonghyup Bank – to collect relevant documents.

The data requested by the prosecution includes those related to Choi and TV commercial director Cha Eun-taek, who is suspected to have played a role in founding the two aforementioned entities and interfering in several state-backed culture projects.

The sweeping search indicates that the investigators have commenced a comprehensive crackdown on the financial records of those related to the scandal.

Among the banks searched, KEB Hana Bank is suspected of granting Choi’s daughter Chung Yoo-ra loans under unlawfully favourable conditions.

Rep. Jung Jae-ho of the minor opposition Minjoo Party of Korea has alleged that Chung and Choi had been granted a loan of 250,000 euros ($274,225) last year, which they supposedly used to buy real estate in Germany.

The Financial Supervisory Service is conducting investigation into the allegation, and National Tax Service chief Lim Hwang-soo told Parliament on Monday that the NTS is investigating possible tax evasions by Choi and Chung.

Prosecutors are also investigating a claim that Choi was allowed to freely enter and leave Cheong Wa Dae.

Local daily the Hankyoreh, citing officials from the presidential office, reported that Choi had frequently visited Cheong Wa Dae from 2013 until recently without going through inspection or identification process.

The gate that Choi used was reportedly one used exclusively by Cabinet members, who go through identification.

Park’s former Chief of Staff Lee Wong-jong had said that it was not true “as far as I know.”

The prosecution has questioned Choi’s associate Ko Yeong-tae and former Cheong Wa Dae staff on the allegation, including Park’s personal trainer Yoon Jeon-choo, officials said Tuesday.

It has been rumored that Yoon was able to work in the presidential office on Choi’s recommendation.

When asked about the allegation, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Jung Youn-kuk said that the presidential staff would co-operate with the investigators “the best they can.”

The presidential office Sunday refused to co-operate when prosecutors attempted to execute a warrant to search Cheong Wa Dae, citing reasons of national security. Instead, Cheong Wa Dae staff voluntarily submitted what they said were relevant documents.

TOKYO – Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in Japan on Tuesday to court investment and aid, as an upsurge in violence against a persecuted Muslim minority at home posed the worst crisis of her six months in power and brought US criticism.

Soldiers have poured into an area of northwestern Rakhine state in a crackdown on Rohingya Muslims after an insurgent group the government believes has ties to overseas Islamists launched a series of attacks.

Soldiers have been accused of raping and killing Rohingyas during the operation.

The crisis has sharpened tension between Suu Kyi’s civilian administration and the army, which ruled the country for decades and retains major powers, and criticism of her is mounting.

The US State Department said last week it had voiced concern to Myanmar about the reported rapes.

Suu Kyi’s five-day visit to Japan is the latest in a whirlwind of foreign trips promoting her country as an investment destination. She has already been to China, the United States and India.

Myanmar needs Japanese investment and robust bilateral ties as a counterweight to China, its largest trading partner.

Japan, for its part, is eager to seek opportunities in meeting Myanmar’s extensive infrastructure and development needs, a Japanese foreign ministry official told reporters.

During her visit, Suu Kyi will meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida. She will also visit Kyoto, where she lived while doing research into her father, Aung San, Myanmar’s independence hero.

Nearly 50 years of economic mismanagement by a military dictatorship has left the country’s roads, airports and electricity supply shattered. This means there is little homegrown industry and Myanmar’s recent annual economic growth of 8 percent has been mostly underpinned by imports.

In September, when Suu Kyi visited the United States, President Barack Obama announced he would remove most economic sanctions. Suu Kyi two weeks ago promised foreign investors a clearer legal framework and opportunities in untapped sectors.

Japan never imposed trade and financial sanctions against the country. As a result, Japan already has a significant presence, centred around the Japan-led Thilawa Special Economic Zone.

Thilawa, a 6,200 acre (2,500-hectare) industrial project on the outskirts of Yangon, the country’s largest city, is about to begin its second phase of development in November.

In the fiscal year ending in March 2015, Japanese direct investment in Myanmar totalled US$86 million (S$120 million), according to the Foreign Ministry.

Exports from Myanmar were worth US$513 million, mainly clothing and agricultural products, while Myanmar imports from Japan were worth US$1.3 billion, largely cars and machinery.

BANGKOK – Restrictions on entertainment and television in Thailand, in place since the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, will be lifted on Nov 14, the prime minister said on Tuesday, though he urged respectful behaviour and programmes for a year of mourning.

King Bhumibol died on Oct 13 at the age of 88, after 70 years on the throne, plunging the country into grief.

The military government declared official mourning for a year and called for all festivities be postponed for an initial 30-day period, though it also asked for businesses and investors to maintain economic activity.

Television channels stopped normal broadcasting moments after the king’s death was announced and switched to royal programming, including archive footage of the king’s life and broadcasts from the Grand Palace where his body is lying in state.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Tuesday normal broadcasting can resume on Nov 14, including hugely popular soap operas, but he called for channels to maintain a sober tone.

“In terms of entertainment, soap operas and movies, they can go ahead,” Prayuth told reporters. “We simply ask for cooperation.”

“Some programmes need to lower their tone, especially slapstick comedy.”

Most Thais have been wearing black to mark the death of a widely loved constitutional monarch who was seen as a pillar of stability in the politically fractious country.

But normal business has been going on and the important tourism industry has been largely unaffected. Bars have even remained open though with their music turned down.

Prayuth called on both Thais and tourists to maintain decorum for the mourning period. “Do not wear inappropriate attire because at this moment we are mourning His Majesty,” Prayuth said.

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Thailand’s Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, soon to be King

Source:

AFP

Reuters

Bangkok Post

The Nation/ANN

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Shortly after the king died, the government said his designated heir, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, had asked for his succession to be delayed while he grieved with the people.

The military government has sought to reassure the country about the succession, saying the prince would formally ascend the throne soon, though his ceremonial coronation would not take place until after his father’s cremation, which is expected after a year.

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A look back at Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s life

Source:

Reuters

AFP

The Straits Times

The Nation/ANN

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While the government has yet to announce a date for the prince’s formal accession to the throne, two senior military sources with knowledge of the matter said on Monday it was expected on Dec 1.

Thailand’s strict laws against royal insult, or lese majeste, have left little room for public discussion about the succession.

It seems electronics manufacturer Samsung is hit but yet another scandal – this time on social media after a photograph of Chinese executives bowing deeply on stage was circulated online. 

The gesture which took place at a dealers’ meeting at Shijiazhuang, Hebei, was reportedly meant to express deep gratitude to distributors for placing new orders despite the recent scandal surrounding the company’s defective Galaxy Note7 smartphone. 

However, the action received backlash online with some criticising Samsung for humiliating its staff. Some netizens have even said that one executive had apparently applied force to another executive’s head to push it down, reported Shanghaiist.

While the gesture is considered acceptable in South Korea, the act of kowtowing is usually reserved as a form of respect for elders in the family or performed for religious reasons. 

In response to the backlash, a Samsung spokesperson said that nobody was forced to bow down. The Chinese executives were, in fact, “deeply touched” that its distributors had placed lots of orders despite its recent woes involving the Note7 device. 

A problem with the phone’s lithium ion battery had led to some units catching fire, leading to a global recall and a ban of the device on several airlines.   

Described as Samsung’s worst crisis to date, Samsung warned that it would take a hit of more than $5 billion (S$6.9 billion) to its operating profit from the third quarter of 2016 to the first quarter of 2017, reported CNBC. 

Samsung launches its Galaxy Note7 phablet

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

AFP, The Straits Times

maryanns@sph.com.sg

SEOUL – When the lawyer representing the woman at the centre of a scandal engulfing South Korean President Park Geun-hye met his client upon her arrival in the country from Germany on Sunday morning, he was blunt.

“I told her: ‘You are now all alone. No one will protect you, not even the Blue House’,” said Lee Kyung-jae, referring to South Korea’s presidential compound.

Prosecutors have said they are looking into whether Lee’s client, Choi Soon-sil, 60, used her friendship with Park Geun-hye to influence state affairs by gaining access to classified documents and benefited personally through non-profit foundations.

The alleged influence exerted by Choi, an informal advisor with no official government role, has baffled and infuriated many South Koreans, thousands of whom gathered on Saturday night in central Seoul calling for Park’s resignation.

The saga has dominated headlines and prompted the resignations of several of Park’s closest advisors, further weakening the president in the fourth year of a single five-year term and sending her approval rating to an all-time low.

Park, 64, has described Choi and Choi’s late father as old acquaintances who helped her through difficult times.

She said in a brief televised statement last week that she had given Choi Soon-sil access to speech drafts early in her term, apologising for causing public concern.

Choi told South Korea’s Segye Ilbo newspaper last week that she received drafts of Park’s speeches after Park’s election victory but denied she had access to other official material, influenced state affairs or benefited financially.

“I committed a crime I deserve to die for,” said Choi, using a Korean expression to convey deep remorse that her lawyer said is not an admission of legal guilt, after pushing through hundreds of journalists as she arrived at the prosecutors’office on Monday.

“Please forgive me.”

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Choi accused of interfering in state affairs using relationship with President

Source:

AFP

Reuters

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Choi was arrested under an emergency detention warrant late on Monday.

She arrived at the prosecutors’ office on Tuesday in handcuffs, escorted by correctional officers.

Some former presidential officials and politicians have described Choi as the most powerful person in South Korea, exerting control over Park’s policy direction and the hiring of senior government officials.

“When I worked at the Blue House, people were telling me if you get near Choi Soon-sil … you will quietly be gone,” Cho Eung-chun, who was a senior presidential secretary in 2013 and 2014, told parliament on Oct 18.

“I raised issues about privatisation of public power and opaque decision-making processes so was kicked out,” said Cho, now an opposition lawmaker.

The Blue House said it did not have any comment on the matter given there is an investigation by prosecutors.

Choi’s lawyer Lee said he expects investigators to focus on three areas: allegations about her daughter’s college admission, whether money from charitable foundations flowed into companies set up by Choi, and reported leaks of classified documents.

The allegations against Choi were first reported by South Korean media, and Lee said it was too soon to comment on whether any of them were true. “I hope prosecutors will conduct a fair, thorough investigation into the allegations,” Lee told Reuters.

PUBLIC EYE, PRIVATE PERSON

The intensely private Park, whose father led the country for 18 years after seizing power in a military coup in 1961, has long been criticised for relying on a group of close advisors who have closely guarded access to her.

Shin Dong-uk, the husband of Park’s estranged sister Park Geun-ryeong, said the president’s relationship with the Chois undermined the relationship between the sisters.

“My wife was close to Park when they lived together, sometimes as a driver, or secretary or stylist. Then after my wife got married and moved out, the two Chois wheedled their way into that vacancy,” Shin told Reuters, speaking of Choi Soon-sil and her father.

Shin, Park Geun-ryeong’s second husband, was referring to his wife’s first marriage, and said that his wife did not wish to comment on the situation.

“Nothing about President Park Geun-hye can be explained without the Choi family. They’ve become Park’s hands and legs,” he said.

ANOTHER ERA

Choi’s friendship with Park dates to an era when Park served as acting first lady after her mother was killed by an assassin’s bullet intended for her father, then-President Park Chung-hee. Five years later, in 1979, Park’s father was murdered by his disgruntled spy chief.

During that time, Park was close not only to Choi but also to Choi’s father, a religious figure named Choi Tae-min who died in 1994 and was referred to in a cable sent from a U.S. embassy official in Seoul as the “Korean Rasputin”, an allusion to the senior Choi’s perceived influence over Park.

Park told the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper in 2007 that Choi’s father had provided emotional support when she lost her parents. At the time she dismissed claims from a political rival that Choi’s father had been involved in corrupt activity.

The depth and nature of Park’s relationship with the Chois has long been the subject of speculation in South Korea.

“Rumors are rife that the late pastor had complete control over Park’s body and soul during her formative years and that his children accumulated enormous wealth as a result,” according to the 2007 U.S. diplomatic cable, which was released by Wikileaks.

The United States does not comment publicly on issues related to files obtained through Wikileaks, the U.S. embassy in Seoul said.

THE INVESTIGATION

Opposition lawmakers have alleged that Choi’s 19-year-old daughter Chung Yoo-ra, who won an equestrian gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games, enjoyed educational perks because of her connections – an accusation that stirred outrage in a country that places a high value on education.

The Ministry of Education said it would launch a special audit of the prestigious Ewha Womans University starting Monday, noting that it had found evidence that Chung had received grades without submitting papers when she attended.

Ewha’s president, who had faced student protests over an unrelated matter, resigned last month under mounting pressure from students and professors over the Choi scandal.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education also found that Choi had tried to bribe high school teachers several times as she sought better treatment for her daughter and verbally attacked her sports teacher, according to a statement by the office on Thursday.

Lee, the lawyer who represents both Choi and her daughter, said Chung was in Germany, with no immediate plans to return to South Korea, and that accusations about her college admission and academic management should be cleared up in court, declining to comment further.

Lee described Choi as “tormented by what’s happening,”especially the media’s focus on her daughter.

“If she’s found guilty, she will be punished by law,” he said of Choi. “She will sincerely cooperate with the prosecutors’ investigation,” he told Reuters.