SEOUL – South Korea’s presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Friday denied rumours that President Park Geun-hye received plastic surgery on the day the ferry Sewol sank in what became the nation’s worst maritime disaster.
“After checking directly with the president, I tell you those rumours are totally groundless,” presidential spokesman Jung Youn-kuk told reporters.
“The Presidential Security Service has confirmed that there is no record of a visitor or any hospital-related vehicle entering the premise,” he added.
The denial came after rumours about “Park’s seven missing hours” resurfaced, adding to an onslaught of revelations in the recent weeks over Park’s now infamous friend Choi Soon-sil and the president’s enigmatic overreliance on her in both public and private life.
On April 16, 2014, while the nation was gripped by shock and sorrow after watching on live TV the ferry’s slow sinking, with over 300, mostly students, trapped inside, Park did not make a public appearance until late in the afternoon.
She showed up at the disaster control centre at around 5:15 p.m., seven hours after the incident, and asked, “Why is it hard to find those students? I heard they all had life vests on.”
This gave rise to suspicions that Park might have been absent or for some reason unable to attend to her duties as head of the government for the seven hours.
As criticism mounted, Cheong Wa Dae at that time had explained that Park received reports on the incident 15 times in total and gave instructions twice for a swift rescue operation.
But they were all written reports and she was never briefed by anyone in person. Even the presidential chief of staff said he was not aware of her exact whereabouts.
On Friday, the presidential spokesperson reiterated that Park was not missing from Cheong Wa Dae, nor was she under the effects of a plastic-surgery related anaesthesia as some now suspect.
“The president was continuously given updates on the Sewol ferry’s situation,” he stressed, adding that she had engaged in a phone conversation with one of her secretaries at around noon on that day.
Earlier this week, local media reported that a doctor from a cosmetic surgery clinic where Choi frequented visited Cheong Wa Dae to see Park regularly. Another report revealed that Choi regularly received undisclosed prescription drugs for intravenous injections on behalf of Park from the aforementioned clinic and another one.
The Health Ministry said it will launch an examination into the clinics to verify the reports.
