A Danish court on Wednesday upheld prosecutors’ decision to extradite Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of impeached former President Park Geun-hye’s friend at the center of a bribery scandal.
But it remains uncertain whether or when Chung will be extradited to Seoul, as she appealed again to a higher court.
Last month, the local prosecutors’ office decided to send Chung, the only daughter of Choi Soon-sil, back to Korea to face an investigation. But she filed an appeal. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
With former President Park impeached and sitting in jail, Chung Yoo-ra is basically just a side show now.
As if things couldn’t get any weirder in the Choi Soon-sil corruption case, the Danish lawyer for her daughter suddenly dies:
Peter Martin Blinkenberg / Yonhap
A Danish lawyer defending a Korean woman wanted by Korean prosecutors over the presidential corruption scandal died suddenly on Friday of unknown causes.
Chung Yoo-ra’s lawyer Peter Martin Blinkenberg died on Mar. 17 at his home in Lohals, Langeland, Ekstra Bladet reported.
Blinkenberg, who specializes in financial cases, was trying to keep Chung in Denmark after prosecutors there decided to extradite her to Korea.
The daughter of Choi Soon-sil, an alleged influence-peddler behind impeached Korean President Park Geun-hye, is wanted on charges of receiving kickbacks while attending Ewha Womans University.
These included manipulation of marks and attendance records.
The perks are suspected of having been carried out at Korea’s most prestigious women’s university under the influence of Choi, who is under arrest.
Christian Blinkenberg, the dead lawyer’s brother, told Danish news outlet Borsen that the “unexpected death” came when the father of two teenagers was spending his last day “within the walls of his beloved cottage” in his hometown. [Korea Times via a reader tip]
You can read more at the link, but his death as expected has people claiming a conspiracy to force Chung to return to Korea by killing her lawyer. With Park out of office really the fate of Chung is now a sideshow thus no real urgency for her to be extradited now in my opinion.
It is pretty clear that Danish authorities waited until the political drama concluded in South Korea before decided to send Chung home. I think this was smart on their part because they protected her from clearly being used as a tool to get a political outcome. With the impeachment of Park Geun-hye she is now no where near as valuable to the political opposition:
The Danish prosecution said Friday it decided to extradite the daughter of ousted South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s close friend for an investigation into a high-profile scandal that removed Park from office.
“It is the assessment of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions that all conditions to extradite a South Korean woman to her home country are met,” the prosecution said in a press release.
Chung Yoo-ra was arrested in the European country’s northern city of Aalborg in January as the Korean investigators put her on a wanted list. It was suspected that she received inappropriate academic and financial favors based on her mother’s close ties with the former leader.
“Chung Yoo-ra has three days to decide whether she will bring the decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions before the Danish courts,” the prosecution said. “If that happens, the District Court of Aalborg will be the first instance.”
Chung’s lawyer reportedly informed the Danish prosecution that Chung will appeal the decision.
“We believe this is highly political, and we have a fear that they want her to be able to press the mother,” Peter Martin Blinkenberg was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. [Yonhap]
It looks like Chung Yoo-ra the 21-year old daughter of the woman at the heart of the ROK presidential scandal will remain in Denmark a bit longer:
This file photo, taken from a clip on YouTube on Jan. 3, 2017, shows Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of Choi Soon-sil at the center of a corruption scandal that has led to South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment, holding an interview with Korean reporters at a court in the northern Danish city of Aalborg. (Yonhap)
The Danish prosecution on Tuesday deferred a decision over whether to repatriate the daughter of South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s close confidante at the center of a high-profile corruption scandal.
South Korea’s special probe team, led by Independent Counsel Park Young-soo, has requested Denmark to send Chung Yoo-ra, the 21-year-old daughter of Choi Soon-sil, to Seoul so she could be questioned on a series of alleged wrongdoings related to the president.
Chung, who has been held in custody in the European country since last month, has so far refused to voluntarily return home to face a probe.
The Danish prosecution told the South Korean embassy in Copenhagen that it has yet to reach a final decision on the requested repatriation of Chung, and that it needs more time to pore over documents it has received from the independent counsel team.
The Danish prosecution has asked a court to hold deliberations on an extension of Chung’s detention on Wednesday morning. Chung’s detention is set to end at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but I think the continued delays to repatriate Chung is an indication that the evidence against her is pretty weak.
It appears we will not have an answer on whether Denmark will deport Chung Yoo-ra until late February:
A Danish court has allowed the Danish prosecution to keep Choi Soon-sil’s daughter Chung Yoo-ra in custody until February 22nd.
The court in the Danish city of Aalborg made the ruling on Monday, granting the prosecution’s request to extend Chung’s detainment period. She has been at the detention center in Aalborg since her arrest early this month.
Initially, the Danish prosecution was expected to decide by Monday whether or not to repatriate her to South Korea, where she faces a probe by special prosecutors investigating a massive influence-peddling scandal. However, last Friday it requested further materials on Chung’s case from the special prosecutors while seeking the court’s approval to extend her detention.
The Danish prosecution has said it will take some weeks before it finishes the review of the additional documents and reaches a decision on her extradition. [KBS World Radio]
I guess when it is winter in Denmark there must not be anything better to do then protest outside a detention center:
In front of the detention center where Chung Yoo-ra is held on Jan. 13, a candlelight rally is held demanding her repatriation. About 20 overseas Koreans and locals exclaim, “Yoo-ra, let’s go back to Korea!” [LEE HYUN]On Jan. 13, there were about 20 overseas Koreans, from places such as Copenhagen, London, and Sweden, gathered with locals carrying candles in front of the detention center in Aalborg. Like the weekly Saturday rallies held in Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, they were picketing, saying, “Yoo-ra, let’s go back to South Korea” and “Instead of pizza, eat some [Korean food].”
At the Aalborg detention center one has the luxury to order in pizza. The individual to first propose a candlelight vigil was an overseas Korean residing in Sweden named Lim Ji-hye.
“Compared to Northern Europe,” she said, “our country is still at a stage where we do not have democracy. I think that this is something we must experience as democratic growing pains.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
It is looking like whatever evidence Korean prosecutors have against Chung Yoo-ra it must be quite flimsy considering Denmark has suspended the ROK extradition request:
South Korea’s special prosecutors said Saturday that they will send documents requested by Danish authorities concerning the daughter of a woman at the center of a snowballing corruption scandal as soon as possible to speed up her repatriation.
Chung Yoo-ra, the 21-year-old daughter of President Park Geun-hye’s close friend Choi Soon-sil, was arrested in the northern Danish city of Aalborg earlier this year for illegal stay. She is suspected of receiving favors from a college in Seoul during its admissions process and on tests by taking advantage of her mother’s ties to the president.
Chung has been in the custody of Danish authorities and has showed no sign of voluntarily coming back home to face a probe.
South Korea’s special prosecutors looking into the alleged corruption scandal surrounding the president and Choi earlier asked local authorities to extradite Chung.
After weeks of review, the Danish prosecution released a statement on Friday that they suspended the repatriation process and asked South Korea to send extra information before making a final decision. [Yonhap]
I would not be surprised if the extradition procedures against Chung Yoo-ra does drag on considering how little evidence of a crime is at least publicly being offered by Korean prosecutors against her:
The extradition of Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, the central figure in a massive scandal which has led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, is expected to take some time.
Chung, 20, was arrested in Denmark’s northern city of Aalborg, Sunday, for staying there illegally. A local Danish court approved a four-week extension of her confinement the following day. Chung appealed, but the higher court denied her appeal.
Chung is reported to have accepted the higher court’s ruling, but is unwilling to return to Korea under any circumstances, according to a Yonhap report, Friday.
Earlier, Chung, who has a 19-month-old son with her, proposed to Korean authorities that she would be willing to go to Korea if she could remain with her son, whether at a welfare center or hospital. The authorities denied her request.
She reportedly changed her stance after seeing with her son at the detention center, Thursday.
Chung is arguing that her son is the main reason for her not to be extradited, as she will be detained when she arrives in Korea and won’t be able to take care of him.
By Jan. 30, Danish authorities will review whether the charges Chung faces justify her extradition to Korea. [Korea Times]
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