Park Geun-hye is South Korea’s third-ever president to be convicted of financial crimes. During her reign, she ran around with fortune-tellers and charlatans, drowning in luxury with a close friend and demanding multimillion-dollar bribes from the owners of the country’s largest companies. The politician was subsequently sentenced to 24 years in prison and a $ 16.8 million fine for corruption, bribery and extortion. About the life of Pak Geun-hye and her family – in the new material by Ksenia Arkhipova “Lenta.ru” from the cycle about political figures of all times and peoples.
In the circle of shamans and gigolo
“The president’s inner circle includes fortune-tellers and sectarians, and her main adviser, a shaman, South Korean Grigory Rasputin,” whispered behind Park Geun-hye. The administration of the head of state complained that she ignores the opinion of advisers and listens to strangers. Soon the worst fears were confirmed: the journalists learned that, being in power, a woman made decisions under the dictation of uneducated “friends” who had nothing to do with politics. But thanks to the president’s favor, they got access to the country’s secret documents.
Computers with unformatted hard drives thrown away by Park Geun-hye’s acquaintances were found. They kept confidential data and records of the president’s official speeches.
Thus, it became known that the country’s foreign policy is formed by fortune-tellers, sectarians and gigolos. For example, the close circle of the head of state included the forty-year-old womanizer Ko Yong Tae, who first built a sports career, and then switched to an escort. Usually rich middle-aged women applied for his services: this is how he began a relationship with the friend of the head of state, Choi Sung Sil, who was suitable for his mother.
Choi Sung Sil was called the main “gray cardinal” of the country, or “South Korean Rasputin.” She met Park Geun Hye in the 1970s, when both were in their early twenties. Choi Sung Sil’s father was engaged in illegal religious business, but managed to get into the credibility of the then ruling President Park Chung Hee – the father of Park Geun Hye. The charlatan took advantage of the fact that the head of state was in depression.
South Korean Stalin
Park Jong Hee came to power in a military coup in 1961. At first, he seemed like a tough business executive, a builder of the Korean “economic miracle” and an overall democratic politician. Under him, liberal freedoms for the population and an electoral system based on direct secret ballot were preserved, parliament and a multi-party system of power operated.
However, after a while Park Chung-hee began to promote an authoritarian regime, earning the nickname “South Korean Stalin.” He was merciless to anyone suspected of having links with the Communists. Many Koreans were imprisoned without trial or investigation. The media was heavily censored: the authorities issued about 20 laws restricting their freedom. In addition, the country banned literary works that showed sympathy for North Korea, as well as those that were similar to Japanese or too erotic.
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The President closely followed the moral character and appearance of the youth. The police used a ruler to check the length of the girls’ skirts – if they were more than 20 centimeters above the knees, it was considered disobedience to the law. The hair length of young people was also controlled – in case of violation of the rules, they were cut right on the spot.
In 1974, there was an attempt to assassinate President Park Chung Hee during one of his public appearances. The terrorist shot the politician with a revolver, but missed, hit his wife. She died in hospital five hours later.
American journalist Richard Halloran, one of the witnesses to the incident, said that the president immediately fell off the podium when the shooting began. Then the offender began to aim at the security of the head of state, but his bullet hit the woman, who remained sitting still.
So the duties of the first lady fell on the shoulders of Park Geun-hye. She settled in the residence of the head of state – the Blue House. Choi Sun Xil and her father were frequent guests of the family. Having won the president’s favor, the relatives began to carry out illegal schemes behind his back, in particular, they demanded bribes from major Korean businessmen. But Park Geun-hye quickly smoothed out conflicts, standing up for them before her father.
Five years after the tragic death of his wife, the dictator himself died. During a private banquet, at which the head of state was surrounded by singers and fashion models, the head of the security service shot the boss.
“She could have worn one pair of shoes for over ten years.”
Park Geun Hye was left alone. She could hardly find a common language with people, and she did not manage to start her own family. Many friends and confidants of her father also turned away from the girl, so she tried to find her consolation in the shamanic cult. Choi Sun Sil and her father traditionally helped her cope with loneliness.
At that time, Choi Sun Sil already followed in her father’s footsteps and was actively involved in business, combining it with religious activities. Relatives organized a mystical sect “Ensege”, the basis of which was a mixture of Christianity with shamanism. Park Geun Hye soon fell under the influence of the scammers and began to blindly follow their advice. Choi Sun Sil’s father became Park Geun Hye’s mentor, assuring the girl that her mother came to him in her sleep and asked for help. It was rumored that Park Geun-hye had not only spiritual but also carnal relationships with this man. However, little is known about this period in the life of the future president – she led an almost reclusive life.
However, everything changed in 1998, when the country’s economy shuddered due to the financial crisis – the daughter of the murdered dictator decided to get involved in politics. In a short time, Park Geun-hye built a dizzying career: in 2012, she was elected the country’s first woman president. It was mainly voted for by the elderly middle class, who believed that the country should be ruled by a “strong hand”, as was the case under Park Jong Hee.
Together with Park Geun-hye, her closest friend also settled in the presidential residence – she performed secret mystical rituals in the famous Blue House. Choi Sung Sil took advantage of her position to gain advantages for herself, family and friends. She received donations from large companies – in total, hundreds of millions of dollars settled in her pockets. The owners of the companies knew about the close ties of women and counted on privileges in exchange for money.
Officially, the funds were supposed to go to support sports and culture, but instead, the president’s girlfriend spent them on buying real estate abroad and paying for her daughter’s education.
The head of state herself seemed very secretive to the people. It was believed that she did not have noticeable novels, adheres to an elegant style of dress, but at the same time is very frugal – she could wear the same pair of shoes for more than ten years. Many Koreans resented the foreign policy decisions made by Park Geun-hye. Its steps in relations with North Korea were considered especially strange. Subsequently, it turned out: one of the shaman women predicted to the president that in the next few years, South and North Korea will unite.
When this information was leaked to the media, the South Koreans staged massive protests demanding the resignation of Park Geun-hye. The politician decided to flee from the flaring scandal to Germany. However, she was soon forced to return: the leader was removed from power as a result of impeachment, and then arrested.
“Showed no signs of remorse”
In April 2018, Park Geun-hye was sentenced to 24 years in prison and a $ 16.8 million fine. She was found guilty on 16 of 18 counts, including corruption, disclosure of state secrets, extortion and abuse of power. According to the judge, Pak showed no signs of remorse and sought to shift the blame onto her subordinates. She did not even appear at the announcement of the verdict, citing malaise.
The investigation proved that her friend Choi Sun Sil did not act alone – the president was aware of what was happening and conspired with her. Women forced the management of large Korean firms to pay fabulous bribes: for example, Samsung gave them $ 6.8 million, Lotte $ 6.5 million, and SK Group $ 8.3 million.
Choi Sun Sil received 20 years in prison and a $ 17 million fine. 53 companies were involved in her corruption schemes, as well as the billionaires who own them. Some of them also ended up behind bars. Thus, the vice president of Samsung Electronics admitted that he gave more than six million dollars for equestrian training and equipment for his 22-year-old daughter Choi Sun Sil, as well as 850 thousand dollars for the purchase and delivery of a horse from Spain.
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South Korea is used to political strife. Scandals often flared up around the heads of state: some were killed, others were overthrown, and some took their own lives after being accused of bribery. At the same time, family members of presidents often found themselves in the dock on corruption charges.
However, what happened to Park Geun-hye caused particular irritation among local residents. The people who so actively supported her in 2012 turned away from the politician. The older generation admitted that they always considered her to be too weak a ruler in comparison with her father, and young people perceived her as the insane daughter of a dictator. As soon as it became known that the head of state was involved in a corruption scandal, her rating fell by 59 percent. Back in November 2016, it was 63 percent, and a month later it did not rise above four percent.
Over the course of several months, over a million Koreans protested every weekend, demanding the resignation of the president, dubbed the “chicken.” After that, local eateries began to enjoy fried chicken dishes in special demand: when ordering food, visitors laughed and shouted political slogans.
Photo: Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye in court, July 27, 2017 – SeongJoon Cho / Bloomberg via Getty Images
