South Korean scandal forces awkward family reunion

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) - South Korea’s months-long political drama featured an uncomfortable family meeting Tuesday as the niece of presidential confidante Choi Soon-sil appeared in court to undermine her aunt’s denials of corruption, local media reported.

Chang Si-ho and Choi seemed reluctant to acknowledge each other during an appearance at Seoul Central District Court.

Chang admitted embezzling funds and working with her aunt to force electronics giant Samsung to donate more than 1.6 billion won ($1.4 million) to their sports foundation, according to the Yonhap news agency.

The embezzlement claim is part of a wider influence-peddling scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye last month. Choi is a close friend of Park and is accused of using the relationship for personal gain.

Choi has denied all the accusations against her -- a position she also made clear a day earlier at Park’s Constitutional Court impeachment trial.

However, Chang has given investigators a computer tablet containing evidence of a multi-million dollar contract between Samsung and a German company under Choi’s partial control.

The South Korean company is said to have paid 43 billion won ($36.6 million) to ensure the government’s backing for a merger of affiliates in 2015.

The district court is set to decide Wednesday whether to issue an arrest warrant for Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong in connection with the case.

Meanwhile, investigators are seeking to interrogate the suspended president by next month “at the latest”, a spokesman for the special probe team examining the scandal said. Park has so far refused to meet prosecutors or attend the impeachment hearings.

Investigators also questioned Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun and Park’s ex-chief of staff Kim Ki-choon Tuesday in connection with a suspected cultural blacklist targeting thousands of popular figures critical of the government.