| Ko Young-tae |
By Lee Kyung-min
The Constitutional Court reviewing President Park Geun-hye's impeachment may hit a roadblock as key witnesses have remained out of contact in an apparent move to avoid taking the witness stand in the hearings.
Suspicions are even rising that some of the witnesses may feel their safety threatened from supporters of Park and her confidant Choi Soon-sil as they are expected to give testimony unfavorable to Park and Choi.
According to the court, Sunday, it failed to deliver subpoenas to Choi's two former associates, Ko Young-tae and Ryoo Sang-young, who the court planned to call in, Tuesday.
Ko and Ryoo are the former head and senior manager, respectively, of The Blue K, a paper company set up by Choi.
The court asked the police to find Ko and Ryoo, but they have yet to locate the two. Their cell phones are turned off.
It was rumored that Ko has been feeling threats to his safety from unknown people.
A local media outlet said Saturday that Ko left for Thailand, where his friend is staying, fearing for his life after he gave damaging testimony against Choi during National Assembly hearing in December.
The online media outlet cited a close friend of Ko who said that Ko's last words were "I cannot live like this. I am so afraid. Please save me." Ko then hung up the phone and has not been answering his phone since, it added.
But Rep. Sohn Hye-won of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea said that Ko is staying in Seoul.
"Ko wanted his privacy and didn't want to make public appearances concerning the scandal anymore," she said on her social networking account.
Ko and Ryoo were expected to testify about who owned the tablet PC, the key evidence that contained multiple state secrets and presidential speeches. Investigators believe the tablet belonged to Choi, who denies it.
Ryoo, who is believed to be loyal to Choi, is suspected of conspiring with Rep. Lee Man-hee of the ruling Saenuri Party to commit perjury during the Assembly hearing.
Ryoo, who is also loyal to the President, allegedly met with Lee before the hearing to coordinate his testimony by agreeing to say that Ko was the owner of the tablet, not Choi, and that the device was later stolen by local broadcaster JTBC.
Alongside the two, the court is likely to fail, again, to call in two former presidential secretaries — An Bong-geun and Lee Jae-man — who earlier dodged subpoenas in deliberate moves to avoid testifying on Jan. 5. The court has yet to locate them.
Meanwhile, Choi and former presidential secretary An Chong-bum said that they would appear for today's hearing. They had refused to attend the previous hearing last week.
Korean Language
'돌연 잠적' 고영태 어디에…헌재 "수단 총동원해 추적"
박근혜 대통령 탄핵심판 사건에 증인으로 나와 대통령 측근들의 국정농단 전말을 증언해 줄 것으로 기대를 모았던 고영태 전 더블루K 이사의 행방이 3일째 묘연하다.
헌재는 고씨의 주민등록상 주소지에 증인 출석요구서를 우편으로 보내고, 경찰에 고씨의 소재를 찾아달라고 요청했지만 14일 오후 현재까지 행방을 찾지 못했다.
헌법재판소는 14일 '주민센터를 통해 찾은 고씨의 주민등록상 주소지인 서울 강남구로 출석요구서를 보냈고, 서울 강남경찰서에도 소재 파악을 요청했지만 찾지 못하고 있다'고 밝혔다.
헌재 관계자는 '국회의 증인 소환에 적극적으로 응했던 고씨가 왜 헌재의 증인신문을 앞두고 모습을 감췄는지 이해할 수 없다'며 '언론을 통해 증인 소환 여부를 접했을 가능성도 있어 모든 수단을 동원해 소재를 찾도록 노력하겠다'고 말했다.
헌재는 당초 17일 오후 4시 고씨를 불러 박 대통령과 '비선 실세' 최순실씨 주변의 국정농단 실체를 캐물을 예정이었다.
대통령의 탄핵사유를 밝힐 핵심 '키맨'으로 여겨졌던 고씨가 모습을 감추자 갖가지 추측이 나온다. 신변 위협을 받고 태국으로 건너갔다는 보도까지 나오자 네티즌들은 '고씨의 신변이 걱정된다', '고씨를 보호해야 한다'는 반응을 보이기도 했다.
국정조사 특위 소속이었던 손혜원 더불어민주당 의원은 자신의 사회관계망서비스(SNS)를 통해 '고씨가 사생활을 침해받고 싶지 않아 했고 세상에 나서기 싫어했다'며 '현재 서울에 있다'고 밝혔다.
고씨와 함께 증인으로 채택된 류상영 더블루K 부장의 행방도 파악되지 않는 것으로 전해졌다. 류씨도 17일 오후 4시 헌재로 나와 증언할 예정이었다.
헌재는 고씨와 류씨의 증인신문이 예정된 17일 오후까지 소재 파악이 안 되면 새로 증인신문 기일을 지정할 방침이다. (연합뉴스)