Woo Byung-woo a former Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs under the Park administration has been hiding from questioning for 47 days which caused a nationwide effort by average Koreans to located him. It appears the pressure to find him has worked because he recently testified to lawmakers about his role in the Choi Soon-sil scandal where he denies everything:
Woo Byung-woo, right, former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, and Cho Yeo-ok, left, former presidential nurse, attend a parliamentary hearing on the abuse of power scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil at the National Assembly in Seoul on Thursday.
Facing a series of condemning questions and mockery from lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, Woo Byung-woo, former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, denied Thursday any wrongdoing in the unprecedented abuse of power scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.
Woo made his first public appearance in 47 days to attend a hearing by the parliamentary special committee into the Choi Soon-sil scandal, and his presence generated high media and public interest, reflecting rampant suspicions that the former prosecutor colluded with Choi and her circle to allow her to pull strings from behind the scenes in state affairs.
Woo’s position as civil affairs senior secretary empowered him to monitor any legal or ethical breach by public officials. He refuted all allegations against him, a response that drew ridicule from lawmakers.
“I do not personally know Choi,” Woo testified. “I first heard about her when media reports came out on her husband Chung Yoon-hoi [in November 2014].”
When asked if he refuted media reports that he had let Choi interfere in state affairs and colluded with President Park’s three most trusted aides, nicknamed “the three doorknobs,” he said, “I do.”
Aside from allegations that Woo turned a blind eye to Choi’s interference, he is also accused of tax evasion and embezzlement from a real estate company run by his family. He is also suspected to have obstructed an investigation into the sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014 that left 304 dead by ordering prosecutors to not raid offices of the Coast Guard in a probe of the botched rescue efforts. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but what I find surprising so far is the lack evidence presented. If lawmakers are trying to prove that people like Woo were acting in concert with Choi you would think they would have emails to prove the connection?
I guess this guy figures he can ride out the ROK presidential scandal to its conclusion by remaining in hiding:
Woo Byung-woo
The National Assembly is getting close to tracking down Woo Byung-woo, the former presidential secretary for civil affairs who has been on the run to avoid questioning over his role in the abuse of power scandal that led to the impeachment of Park Geun-hye.
Its uncommon allies in the hunt: average angry Koreans.
Several people, including Woo and the presidential friend at the center of the scandal, Choi Soon-sil, did not obey summonses by a bipartisan special legislative committee that held a series of public hearings last week to grill key suspects in the scandal.
Former and current lawmakers have come together to offer a nearly 15 million won ($12,855) bounty for details on the whereabouts of Woo, who has earned the nickname “mikkuraji” (loach) in local media, a Korean term for someone hard to catch.
A personal aide of Rep. Sohn Hye-won from the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, who is one of the committee’s 18 members, said on a CBS radio show Tuesday morning that ordinary Koreans were eagerly hunting Woo down. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read the rest at the link, but the summons papers has to be handed to him in person to be legally binding. This is why he is remaining in hiding so no one can hand him the papers that would legally force him to appear in public for questioning about the scandal.
