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| Jeong Ki-taek, former president of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, tells a National Assembly hearing Wednesday that Cheong Wa Dae pressured him to resign as he had been against its order to support the overseas business expansion of a poorly performing company owned by an acquaintance of Choi Soon-sil, the scandal-ridden confidant of President Park Geun-hye. / Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun |
By Kim Bo-eun
The former chief of a government agency promoting the Korea's health industry said he faced pressure from Cheong Wa Dae to step down after refusing to support the overseas expansion attempt of a poorly-performing company affiliated with a plastic surgery clinic run by an acquaintance of President Park Geun-hye's confidant Choi Soon-sil.
The remarks by Jeong Ki-taek, former president of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), came during the National Assembly investigation into the scandal surrounding Choi.
"An official in charge of personnel at the Ministry of Health and Welfare came to me and said, ‘Prepare to step down, as it is an order from the top,'" Jeong said during the hearing, Wednesday.
When asked who "the top" meant, he answered he was told it was Cheong Wa Dae.
The government had been pushing to support the overseas expansion of a medical appliances company owned by Park Chae-yoon, the wife of Kim Young-jae, a cosmetic surgeon who ran a clinic frequented by Choi. It attempted to help the company expand in the Middle East.
The company's sales, however, only amounted to 24 million won per year while its losses totaled 1.7 billion won at the time, and Jeong said he could not approve government funding for overseas expansion for the company.
"The company was in such poor shape that it could not receive support from the state, yet Cheong Wa Dae recommended it as a company to expand its business overseas and pressured for state funds to be provided for it," Rep. Lee Hye-hoon of the ruling Saenuri Party said. "I am at a loss for words."
Jeong had originally been on the list of people accompanying the President on her trip to the Middle East in 2015, but was removed from the list ahead of the trip after he opposed the government order to support the company.
Regarding his removal from the list, he said,"I heard it was an order from Cheong Wa Dae."
After the state visit, the government conducted a months-long, comprehensive audit on the KHIDI. The agency had formerly received a D evaluation, but received a B, which should have been credited to Jeong as this was after he became the chief.
However, he was pressured to step down.
Jeong finally resigned in July 2015, citing poor health as the reason, which raised suspicions that some kind of influence had been exerted.
Other officials at the ministry who were involved were also demoted.
"I worked hard, trying to apply what I researched for two decades as a scholar," Jeong said. "It is a pity I was stripped of my opportunity to do so, but I do not have any regrets because I did my best."
Rep. Lee said,"The special prosecutor investigating the scandal should reveal the truth about those who exerted influence on state affairs, especially personnel matters in the ministry and other government bodies."
