A prosecutor involved in the case recently told reporters that "only 10 seconds of an audio file would be long enough for people to storm the streets with torches, instead of candles." The prosecutor was referring to nearly 50 audio files found on two confiscated smartphones of Jung Ho-sung, Park's close aide, who was arrested recently for allegedly leaking confidential presidential documents to Choi.

The expenses report showed that Choi and Chung charged Samsung even for the smallest expenses. The details ranged from 2.1 euros for a cup of coffee and 4.9 euros for ice cream.

President Park was the chairwoman of the foundation at the time, but a civic group criticized her and pastor Choi Tae-min, her mentor, for their dictatorial way of running the organization. The group demanded Park Geun-ryeong be named as chairwoman. After the power struggle, the younger Park won control over the foundation. Since then, the rift between the sisters has deepened, and the younger Park has tried to derail her sister’s political path. ...

In October 2008, the younger Park married Shin, who is 14 years younger, but the elder Park did not attend the wedding. In 2009, Shin was indicted for defaming the elder Park by claiming she had plotted to kidnap him and have him removed to China and murdered. Shin was ordered to serve 18 months in prison, a sentence that started in 2012.

The presidential office flatly denied all charges. “There is no need to mention the given allegations as they are not true,” presidential spokesperson Jung Youn-kuk told reporters Tuesday.

Her rival, who is identified only with her last name Kim, won the competition in dressage. Immediately after the contest, police officers investigated the head judge on a corruption allegation. He was quoted as saying that he had no idea why he was investigated and asked the police if there was any evidence to support his involvement in the corruption case. The investigators were quoted as saying that they were "informed" about possible corruption in the selection of the winner of the competition by an unspecified source. The judge was released as the police found no evidence.

Choi allegedly had access to top-secret national security documents, influenced personnel appointments in the Park administration, and apparently was involved in top decisions. ...
Earlier this month, Chief of Staff Lee adamantly denied media reports that Choi had reviewed and edited Park’s speeches in advance. Park, however, issued a televised apology Tuesday for having allowed Choi to do so, prompting criticism that the Blue House had attempted to cover up Choi’s role and power. ...
Choi is accused of creating the foundations as slush-funds for President Park after she leaves office. Park denied the allegation.

Prosecutors: The President’s resistance is unacceptable

“It has been like how sorcery works,” said Chung Doo-un, a former three-term lawmaker from the president’s own Saenuri Party. “For Park, the elder Choi has been someone like a demigod, and I assume it is the case until now. I don’t think there is another way to explain such a relationship but this.”

According to a media report earlier in the week, Park Ji-man had described the president as acting strangely, as if she was “hypnotized,” whenever talking about Choi Soon-sil. The conservation was reportedly with former Cheong Wa Dae official Park Gwan-chun, one of the first among Park’s aides to expose the alleged influence-peddling of Choi to the public.

Kim Tae-hyung, a psychologist who published his own analysis of President Park in 2015, said Park, who lost her parents when she was young, has a “commitment issue,” and the childhood trauma has prompted her to rely too much on the Chois.

“Psychologically speaking, I think the president was held hostage by the Chois,” said Kim. “I don’t think the president has the ability to address the crisis. Since they cannot help now, I’m afraid she may undergo a mental breakdown.”

When Choi Tae-min died in 1994, at age 78, Park’s reliance upon him had not dwindled -- it had only moved onto his daughter, Soon-sil, who has also recently been known as Seo-won.

Shortly before he died, the late cult leader made more eccentric remarks than ever, according to magazine articles at the time. He reportedly said in public occasions that he was communicating directly with God and that his blood was white in color, unlike ordinary people.

The return came a day after prosecutors raided homes of presidential aides suspected of being involved in the process, as the investigators accelerated their probe into the case.

They also attempted to raid the offices of the aides, but the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae refused them entry, citing the need to protect state secrets. ...  Prosecutors said they attempted to raid the offices a second time Sunday morning but were again denied entry.

Instead of allowing the investigators to directly search the offices, the presidential office is known to be providing documents demanded by the prosecution, which it did on Saturday as well. Prosecutors, however, earlier said the documents provided on the first raid attempt fell short of their requirements and were rather insignificant materials.

Choi Soon-sil was seen in photographs with Park from 1979 when Park, as eldest daughter of then-President Park Chung-hee, was filling in as first lady for her assassinated mother. Park’s father, who took power in a military coup in 1961, was shot dead by his disgruntled spy chief later in 1979.

Choi was someone “who gave me help when I was going through a difficult time,” Park said in a brief televised address Tuesday. Choi Soon-sil’s ex-husband also served as a top aide to Park until her presidential election victory in 2012.

Last but not least, Choi’s daughter, a competitive equestrian rider, is given a suspect admission into an elite women’s college, which suddenly creates a special entrance category for students who excel in equestrian sports. When Choi’s daughter comes in second in a national equestrian competition in 2013, Park fires eight senior officials of the Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism, and the Korean Equestrian Foundation is investigated and audited.

In 1974, a disaffected Japanese-Korean would attempt to assassinate President Park during a public speech. The agile Park ducks, and the bullet hits his wife who is sitting behind him. Mayhem results. Eventually the assassin is subdued and the first lady’s dying corpse is dragged out. Park returns to the podium, dusts off his jacket, and then says, without flinching or hesitating, “As I was saying…” and continues his speech, as if nothing had happened. Stoicism or psychopathy? The historical record points to the latter.

Other allegations involve Choi and a close acquaintance using their influence in a corporate takeover, signaling that her influence extended beyond political affairs. Choi and film director Cha Eun-taek and other aides are suspected of pressing a small advertising company to sell its shares in Poreka, an advertising affiliate of steel maker Posco that was later taken over by the advertising company Comm. Together. A source from Comm. Together confirmed that the movie director and close friends threatened the advertising company.

Presidential spokesman Jung Youn-kuk made the appeal when asked about yet another allegation that Choi Soon-sil, at the center of the scandal, had entered and left the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae without going through a security check since Park took office in February 2013. Choi is a private citizen with no security clearance.