South Korean President Park Geun-Hye replaced her prime minister and finance minister Wednesday, as she scrambled to contain a damaging scandal over a close friend accused of meddling in state affairs
The top-level reshuffle, which also saw a new public safety minister, was the latest attempt to appease growing public anger with the president and her administration.
Park has been engulfed in a political storm over allegations that she allowed long-time friend Choi Soon-Sil, who holds no political position, to vet her speeches and have a voice in policy decisions — including cabinet appointments.
Choi is currently being detained and questioned by prosecutors over her links to Park and other allegations of influence-peddling and embezzlement.
A spokesman at the Seoul Prosecutors Office said a formal request had been made Wednesday to a local court to issue an arrest warrant for Choi on charges of fraud and abuse of power.
The fraud relates to allegations that Choi — who is already in emergency detention — used her friendship with Park to strong-arm companies like Samsung into donating large sums to non-profit foundations Choi set up and used for her personal gain.
The spokesman said the “abuse of power” charge — usually restricted to government officials — was based on allegations that Choi worked with one of Park’s top presidential aides, Ahn Jong-Beom, to secure the corporate donations.
Ahn, who was forced to resign at the weekend, presented himself for questioning by prosecutors earlier Wednesday.
A presidential spokesman said Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-Ahn had been replaced “in connection with the current situation.”
The new premier was named as Kim Byong-Joon, a former top aide to the late liberal president Roh Moo-Hyun.
The prime minister is a largely symbolic post in South Korea, where power is firmly concentrated in the presidency.
Source: AFP
