A close friend and confidante of South Korea's president Park Geun-hye has been detained on charges of interfering in state affairs and peddling influence, the latest twist in a growing scandal that threatens to topple the government.
Choi Soon-sil, who holds no governmental post and is unelected, is accused of using her decades-old friendship with Ms Park to influence state affairs. She has been painted as a "puppet master" who received advance copies of policy documents and altered dozens of speeches, even deciding on the president's wardrobe.
Ms Choi is also accused of pocketing more than €60 million in funds from two non-profit foundations, which allegedly strong-armed big companies into giving billions of won in donations, and of orchestrating a shadowy inner circle known as the "eight fairies", who controlled affairs of state.
"I am so sorry," Ms Choi told reporters as she entered the prosecutor's office in Seoul. "I have committed a deadly sin. Please forgive me." Some of the funds were used to pay for dressage training for her daughter Chung Yoo-ra, who represented South Korea in equestrianism at the Asian Games.
Ms Park has responded to the scandal by ordering all 10 of her senior aides to resign, but this has not gone down well. Thousands of Koreans have marched to demand Ms Park step down – her approval ratings have reached the lowest since her presidency began in February 2013.
Choo Mi-ae, chairwoman of the opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, said: “This isn’t even a dictatorship . . . it’s a terrifying theocracy.”
Ms Choi is the daughter of Ms Park’s mentor Choi Tae-min, a “Rasputin-like” leader of a shady, shamanistic cult who died in 1994. The Korean leader has been close to the family since the assassination of her mother and then-first lady Yook Young-soo in 1974. Her father, then-president Park Chung-hee, was killed in 1979.
Ms Park made a televised address on Tuesday to apologise for her behaviour, admitting that she had sought Ms Choi’s input on dozens of presidential speeches before they were made public.
Ms Choi (60) returned from Europe on Sunday after nearly two months, and has been placed in custody as she is considered a flight risk. "Choi has denied all of the charges against her, and we're concerned that she may destroy evidence," a prosecution official said, quoted by the Yonhap news agency. "She is also in an extremely unstable psychological state and it's possible an unexpected event could occur if she is released."
Protesters chanted “Down with Park Geun-hye!” and “Arrest Choi Soon-sil!” as she arrived. Early on Tuesday, a 45-year-old man drove an excavator into the prosecutor’s office, saying he wanted to “help Choi Soon-sil die”. A security guard was injured in the attack and the building was damaged.
Meanwhile, Seoul has urged North Korea to desist from meddling in the South's domestic affairs.
Pyongyang's main newspaper the Rodong Sinmun wrote this week: "The case is a clear proof of the true nature of the Park Geun-hye regime, the most deformed, abnormal and stupid in contemporary society."
