President Park Geun-hye’s two former chiefs of staff pledged Monday that they will cooperate with a prosecution probe into a high-profile corruption scandal.
Huh Tae-yeol, who served as Park’s first chief of staff, said he will cooperate with a probe in good faith, according to Huh’s aide.
Kim Ki-choon, who served as her second chief of staff, also said he will cooperate with prosecutors, noting that he will try to restore his honor.
The comments came a day after Park called for a thorough investigation into the corruption scandal involving some of her close aides and key politicians.
Park said she hopes the prosecution will strictly deal with the allegations without sanctuary, in accordance with the law and principles.
Prosecutors have formed a special team to investigate the scandal sparked by a so-called “bribery list” left behind by an embattled businessman at the center of the corruption scandal before he committed suicide last week.
A brief memo found in a trouser pocket of Sung Wan-jong, the former head of a mid-size construction company, dropped a bombshell on South Korean politics.
Listed on the memo are the names of eight heavyweight politicians and won figures next to them, indicating that the money was delivered.
The memo showed that a 700 million won figure ($639,000) was handwritten next to Huh’s name while $100,000 was written next to Kim’s name, along with the date of Sept. 26, 2006.
Sung had claimed in a telephone interview with a newspaper just before his suicide that he gave $100,000 to Kim at a Seoul hotel in September 2006, around the time that Kim accompanied Park on a visit to Belgium and Germany.
The eight politicians include Huh and Kim as well as Park’s current chief of staff, Lee Byung-kee, Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo and Hong Moon-jong, a ruling party lawmaker who had served as Park’s campaign manager in the 2012 presidential election.
Still, no won figures are written next to Park’s current chief and the prime minister on the memo. (Yonhap)
