Former presidential aide Cho Eung-cheon was questioned by the prosecution Friday as the investigators dig deeper into the scandal surrounding Chung Yoon-hoi.
Cho had headed the division of the presidential office in charge of discipline in the civil service. His department drew up a report on Chung, a former aide of President Park Geun-hye, which was allegedly leaked by Police Superintendent Park Gwan-cheon, who was Junior to Cho at the time.
The report drawn up by Cho’s office said that Chung was working with a number of incumbent presidential aides including Lee Jae-man, the presidential administrative secretary, to influence state affairs.
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| Former presidential secretary Cho Eung-cheon appears before the prosecution on Friday. (Yonhap) |
Ahead of Friday’s questioning, Cho denied any wrongdoing.
“(I) only carried out the duties given to me, and did not take actions (that would make me) be ashamed in front of my family and subordinates,” Cho said on his way to the questioning.
On whether he was involved in the unauthorized disclosure of the documents, Cho simply said that he had done nothing to be ashamed of and that he did not contact Park Gwan-cheon before answering the prosecution’s summons.
While Chung, Lee and other presidential aides implicated in the case have dismissed the reports as groundless, Cho claims that “about 60 percent” of the information is credible. Chung and the presidential aides have filed defamation suits against the daily Segye Ilbo, which first published the story.
Park was questioned Thursday. Little information regarding the 19-hour questioning has been made known, but Park has denied all allegations against him since the beginning. Park has also claimed someone accessed the documents in question while he was still assigned to Cheong Wa Dae, and that the current situation was a part of a plot to damage Cho.
The prosecution, however, is said to have found leads suggesting that Park may have attempted to destroy evidence. According to the prosecution, Park ordered an officer at the Dobong Police Station to delete some files on his computer on Dec. 2. The officer has been questioned, but whether the deleted files were from Cheong Wa Dae has yet to be determined.
As the investigation continues, more rumors and speculations surrounding the case have risen.
It has since been claimed that Chung Yoon-hoi used his influence to launch an audit into the Korea Equestrian Federation. According to reports, associates of Chung had an issue with the federation, and Cheong Wa Dae ordered the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to compile a report biased to the claims of Chung’s associates. However, when a report that included faults on the part of Chung’s associates, concerned Culture Ministry officials are said to have been reassigned on the orders of the president.
Citing former Culture Minister Yoo Jin-ryong, the Chosun Ilbo claimed that the president mentioned the concerned Culture Ministry staff by name, referring to them as “bad people.”
By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)
