One scandal-free horse. David Martyn Hunt/Flickr (CC)
What links Samsung, an $830,000 (£683,000( horse, and the South Korean national pension fund?
They’re just some of the ingredients in a huge, surreal presidential scandal rocking South Korea.
Choi Soon-sil, an aide of president Park Geun-hye, has been accused of shaking down businesses to enrich themselves via a slush fund, with the assistance of president Park — whose future is now in doubt.
The evolving scandal has shaken the country, and Samsung, South Korea’s largest company, is bring dragged in.
In short: Choi Soon-sil, a close friend of president Park Geun-hye, is accused of taking cash in exchange for influence from companies.
Choi allegedly had access to classified material and drafts of speeches, which were discovered on a tablet computer in one of her offices.
She now faces charges of abuse of power and fraud, according to Reuters.
President Park’s future now looks dubious. She has been impeached by parliament and stripped of her powers, but continues to deny wrongdoing.
Investigators are trying to ascertain whether Samsung paid bribes to Park-linked organisations in an effort to get support from the national pension fund to get a merger approved between two Samsung entities that would give the company’s heir-apparent Jay Y.
