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By Chung Hyun-chae
President Park Geun-hye's former doctor said Saturday that he wasn't involved in Cheong Wa Dae's purchase of the anti-impotence drug Viagra, and knew nothing about it.
Doctor Suh Chang-suk served the president from September 2014 to February this year when he was appointed head of Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH).
"As I was not a full time doctor to the President, I had no involvement in drug purchases by Cheong Wa Dae," Suh said at the SNUH Cancer Center in Bundang. "I did not know the drugs included Viagra."
But he defended the presidential office saying, "I assume Cheong Wa Dae took precautions against the danger of altitude sickness as security guards sometimes have to run on high ground, which could cause such symptoms."
The presidential office said Wednesday that it purchased more than 350 drugs in December, including Viagra, explaining the latter was to ease possible altitude sickness during Park's visit to high-altitude nations in Africa.
In May, Park went on a trip to Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya whose capital cities are located one to two kilometers above sea level.
The controversy over Viagra was sparked after the list of drug purchases was revealed by Rep. Kim Sang-hee of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).
