COPENHAGEN: The daughter of Choi Soon-sil, the woman at the centre of a corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of South Korea’s president, has been arrested in Denmark after months in hiding, Danish police said on Monday (Jan 2).
Chung Yoo-ra, the 20-year-old daughter of the woman dubbed South Korea’s “Rasputin”, is one of the figures in the influence-peddling scandal that sparked massive street protests demanding the removal of President Park Geun-hye.
After a tip-off from a South Korean journalist, Chung was arrested Sunday night in the northern Danish town of Aalborg for overstaying her visa, Danish police said in a statement.
The Aalborg district court ruled that Chung would be detained for four weeks while it was decided whether she would be extradited to South Korea.
During the court hearing she denied any wrongdoing and said that her mother on three different occasions had simply shown her “some documents” that she had signed, according to Danish news agency Ritzau.
Chung had “tearfully” asked the court not to detain her, saying she was worried about her 19-month-old son who was staying with a nanny, it said.
The equestrian, who has reportedly bought horses and trained in Denmark in the past, told police that she was in the country due to her involvement in the sport.
She was aware that South Korean authorities wanted to talk to her, they said.
