The prosecution on Tuesday took two police inspectors into custody and questioned a Hanwha Group official in connection with the expanding probe into the developments surrounding Chung Yoon-hoi.
Chung, a former aide to President Park Geun-hye when she was a member of the conservative party, allegedly colluded with presidential aides to influence state affairs, including the president’s personnel choices. He is set to appear for questioning on Wednesday.
The inspectors, currently posted in one of the Seoul police agency’s intelligence divisions, are suspected of making copies of Cheong Wa Dae documents that were in possession of police Superintendent Park Gwan-cheon. Park is accused of compiling and leaking reports on Chung. Until February he had served in Cheong Wa Dae’s department dealing with discipline within the civil service under Cho Eung-cheon, who has since been replaced.
 |
| The Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office (Yonhap) |
As for the raid on the Hanwha Group office, it is said to have been limited to an individual who accompanied the investigators for questioning.
“The prosecution only searched and seized the office of an individual in connection with the document leak,” said a prosecutor close to the investigation.
The unnamed official is said to have been on good terms with the police officers taken into custody, and is thought to have played a part in leaking the documents to the media.
The prosecution, meanwhile, is said to have determined that the alleged secret meetings between former and incumbent aides of the president is based on false information.
Until the early hours of Tuesday, the investigators questioned Park, his informant and presidential aide Kim Choon-sik. During questioning, Park is reported to have gone back on his earlier claims and confessed that Kim was not his source.
Chung and Cheong Wa Dae officials have filed defamation suits against the daily Segye Ilbo, which first carried the story, while the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy has filed a criminal complaint against Chung for interfering in state affairs.
In the ensuing investigation it was revealed that Park’s informant was a former tax official, who claimed to have gained the information from Kim.
Following the 16-hour questioning, Kim emphasized that all related claims were false, while the Park and his informant remained mostly silent.
“The prosecution will soon uncover the truth. The (claims about) the meeting are obviously false,” Kim said.
Regarding his relationship with the informant, Kim said that they first met after he was assigned to Cheong Wa Dae and that he learned later that they studied at the same university. Kim, however, did not elaborate on why he met Park’s informant.
The police officer declined to comment on the grounds that the investigation is ongoing.
By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)
