hankyoreh

then Chief of Staff to Park Geun-hye

“If the ‘triumvirate’ is the flesh, then Choi Sun-sil is the vital organs. You can strip away the flesh when it bleeds, but when it comes to the organs, your life is on the line.”

It’s a frequent metaphor among Blue House insiders - one that hints at the possibility that former President Park Geun-hye’s former chief of staff Chung Yoon-hoi’s ex-wife Choi Seo-won [formerly Choi Sun-sil], may be at the center of the recent scandal over behind-the-scenes influence in the presidential office. The implication is that Park may be willing to part with her so-called “triumvirate,” but will do whatever it takes to shield Choi.

Choi, 58, is the daughter of Choi Tae-min (1912-94), an aide back when Park was acting as First Lady in the late 1970s after the assassination of her mother Yuk Young-soo. An investigation file on Choi drafted by the Korean Central Intelligence Agency in the late Yushin era and the Chun Doo-hwan administration in the wake of Park Chung-hee’s assassination in 1979 shows a peculiar history for Choi, with six wives listed under seven names. For the record, Choi Seo-won’s side denies the claims.

Choi Sun-sil (as she was known at the time) was reportedly quite close to Park from an early age. A former journalist who met Chung, 59, on numerous occasions when Park first became involved in politics reported hearing that Choi was a “companion to Park dating back to her time in Jangchung,” referring to a neighborhood in Seoul where Park lived in her early years.

Choi and her father were also at the center of allegations of using their relationship with Park to interfere in the management of the Yookyoung Foundation back when Park was its chair. Choi Tae-min in particular was dogged by accusations of abusing his power as adviser in the so-called “Yookyoung Foundation management battle” of 1990. Allegations eventually surfaced that his daughter had received special treatment from the foundation‘s Children’s Center through a children‘s education facility that she ran in Seoul’s Apgujeong neighborhood. Speculation about her ties with Park only intensified when Park abruptly quit as chair amid protests against the two Chois.

According to some, Choi Seo-won and Park maintain close ties to this day. The registry at a building Choi owns in Seoul‘s Sinsa neighborhood, identified by its initial “M,” shows that she changed her name last February. No reason was given, but sources speculated that it would have made procedures going back and forth to the Blue House somewhat simpler. Chung, who divorced Choi in July, told the Hankyoreh in a Dec. 2 interview that he had “only found out about [the name change] recently” after reading media reports.

“We haven’t talked about that sort of thing [the name change] for a long time,” he added.

The remarks suggest he and Choi have been separated for some time. Some Blue House insiders have alleged that staffers were replaced after raising questions about Choi‘s visits to the Blue House.

The evidence available now suggests Chung has been aiding Park since their days at the Yookyoung Foundation. A source who met him around the same time recalled that Chung “gave me his name card a couple of times back when he was running a Japanese restaurant called Pungun in Cheongdam [a neighborhood in Seoul’s Gangnam district].”

“The first one said ‘Chief of Staff to Park Geun-hye of the Yookyoung Foundation,’ and the later one read ‘chief of staff to lawmaker Park Geun-hye,’” the source added on condition of anonymity.

Given that Choi ran Pungun between 1995 and 1998, the dates suggest he has been a close aide to Park since before her first political bid in the 1998 by-elections to represent Daegu’s Dalseong district.

Chung was officially Park’s “chief of staff” by the time she was breaking away from the Hannara Party (predecessor of today‘s ruling Saenuri Party [NFP]) to form the Korea Coalition for the Future in 2002. His last official title was as “legislative aide” to Park, as registered with the National Assembly for the period from 2004 to 2006. But in his Dec. 2 interview with the Hankyoreh, he reported having given up all posts officially in 2007.

As the recent scandal shows, allegations of his behind-the-scenes influence have been coming from in and around the party and Blue House ever since.

By Kim Oi-hyun, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]