After President Park Geun-hye admitted to having her speeches edited by her close personal
friend Choi Soon-sil, the search is now on to find her, and she's currently believed
to be in Germany.
Prosecutors have also begun to raid the offices of two foundations that Choi is thought to
have set up and managed.
Kwon Jang-ho reports.
Seoul prosecutors raided nine locations related to people implicated in the Choi Soon-sil
scandal on Wednesday.
The list of locales includes both the K-Sports and Mir Foundation offices, the home of Cha
Eun-teak, who helped establish the companies, as well as the home of Choi herself.
Choi is suspected of having used her ties to President Park Geun-hye to gain an unprecedented
amount of sponsorships from conglomerates... and it's suspected the foundations were given
preferential treatment to win contracts for government-sponsored events.
Prosecutors are searching for evidence of any classified documents Choi might have received
from President Park Geun-hye, who apologized Tuesday for seeking Choi's advice on her speeches
and other documents.
But a month has passed since prosecutors first brought the bill of indictment to the Seoul
courts, and the effectiveness of the raids has been questioned, as some locations are
said to have already been cleaned out.
Aside from that, one of the biggest question marks in the case is where the subject of
the investigation, Choi, currently is.
There are records showing she left Korea in September for Germany, where she is believed
to be staying with her daughter.
German media outlet Hochster Kreisblatt is reporting that local prosecutors are also
looking into companies established by Choi in Germany, Widec and the Blue K.
Locals in the town of Arnoldshain were said to have reported concerns about a hotel that
was opened under the name Widec Taunushotel in June, but closed soon after.
The mother and daughter are also said to have been spotted living in the city in the past,
but German authorities have said their current whereabouts are unknown.
Kwon Jang-ho, Arirang News.