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By Nam Hyun-woo
Disgraced presidential secretary Woo Byung-woo is accused of having meddled in Woori Bank's latest CEO nomination process, the bank said Monday.
The statement came amid an investigation by the special prosecution over an allegation that Woo, a core figure in the corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye's confidant Choi Soon-sil, had influenced the Woori Bank nomination last July as a favor to Choi.
"The bank assumes that an unidentified candidate attempted to become the CEO through an unjust request last July," Woori Bank said in its statement.
It added that the current CEO Lee Kwang-goo was appointed by its board members who are from private sectors and he has nothing to do with the attempt.
Reportedly, the special prosecution team acquired documents produced by Woo's office that contain data on the unidentified candidate as well as National Police Agency (NPA) chief Lee Chul-sung. Lee became the top officer last August, while Woori Bank had its CEO nomination in January.
Attached to the documents was a note saying the office was "reviewing" them. The special prosecutors reportedly acquired the documents through Choi's niece Jang Si-ho.
The prosecutors' team sought a warrant for Woo for his role in the scandal. However, Woo denied all the allegations, claiming he had never met Choi.
In the CEO nomination, 11 had applied for the job and three candidates including Lee made it to the final interview session. The bank's executive recommendation committee nominated Lee as the sole final candidate on Jan. 25.
"It is very regretful given that the bank was putting forth its utmost efforts to become a private bank last July," an official at the bank said.
The NPA chief said in a statement that he has "absolutely no idea" about the allegations and that he is confident he was nominated through a transparent process.
