S. Korean president denies wrongdoing in scandal

South Korea’s impeached President Park Geun-hye on Sunday broke a month-long silence over her alleged role in a corruption scandal, publicly denying charges of wrongdoing and saying that the accusations against her were “fabrication and falsehood.”
Park also said that she was set up over allegations that she ordered the government to support a 2015 merger of two affiliates of South Korean conglomerate Samsung, a deal which has become central to the investigation.
“It’s completely framed,” she was quoted by local media as saying, without elaborating.
Park is being investigated over accusations that she gave favors to big businesses in return for financial contributions to entities controlled by her friend, Choi Soon-sil.
On Sunday, Park denied Choi was allowed to wield undue and wide-reaching influence over state affairs.
In a hastily arranged briefing over tea, the leader met reporters from domestic media in her first event since being impeached by Parliament on Dec. 9.
Park’s fate is in the hands of Constitutional Court judges who have up to 180 days to uphold the impeachment or reinstate her.
She last appeared in public on Nov. 29, offering to step down if Parliament could agree on a way for her to leave office.
Opposition parties rejected that offer and led a motion to impeach Park by a wide margin, joined by some members of her own Saenuri Party. The Constitutional Court is set to begin hearing arguments from both sides.
Park has denied wrongdoing previously but apologized for carelessness in her ties with Choi, a friend for four decades, who has also denied wrongdoing. Choi is in detention while on trial.
Park said on Sunday that the decision by the country’s national pension fund to back a merger between two Samsung Group affiliates was “a just policy decision” made for national interest, and that the deal was supported by many brokerage firms at the time.
“I did not have an iota of thinking to help anyone and the thought never crossed my mind,” Park said.
“This is not the place to tell you all the details, but what I can clearly say now is that I did nothing whatsoever to favor anyone or collude with anyone to do that.”
The merger in 2015 of Samsung Group affiliates Cheil Industries Inc. and Samsung C&T Corp. has become a key part of the probe into influence peddling at the pinnacle of South Korean politics.

Source: Arab News