Cha Eun-taek claims Choi Soon-sil organized meeting with Kim Ki-choon

Cha Eun-taek claims Choi Soon-sil organized meeting with Kim Ki-choon. November. 28, 2016 07:12. by Min Kim, Dong-Jin Shin kimmin@donga.com,shine@donga.com.

New testimony suggests that Kim Ki-choon (77), former presidential chief of staff, was the person who linked Cha Eun-taek, dubbed "Crown prince in the culture community," to former Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Kim Jong. If this testimony is true, Kim Ki-choon was directly involved and intervened in the manipulation of state affairs by President Park Geun-hye's confidant Choi Soon-sil and her acquaintances.

“Cha first came to know Choi at introduction of Ko Young-tae, director of The Blue K, around April and May in 2014, and visited then Presidential Chief of Staff Kim’s official residence at Choi’s instruction about two months later,” Kim Jong-min, Cha’s attorney, told reporters on Sunday. “When Cha visited Kim's official residence, Vice Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Kim Jong, and Culture Minister nominee Chung Sung-geun were sitting by Presidential Chief of Staff Kim at the residence, and he held talks with the presidential chief of staff for about 10 minutes.”

Cha’s attorney said, “Cha did not trust Choi at first, but he later came to know that the place Choi instructed him to visit was Presidential Chief of Staff Kim’s official residence, and he met with senior officials of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Ministry,” explaining that Cha came to recognize Choi as an influential person after meeting with Kim Ki-choon.

If Cha’s argument is accurate, Kim Ki-choon was effectively the bridge who connected together those who were behind the Choi Soon-sil gate. Kim Jong also testified to prosecutors that “In an early day after President Park Geun-hye’s inauguration, Presidential Chief of Staff Kim instructed me over the phone to go to a place, and I met Choi for the first time,” singling out Kim Ki-choon as the bridge who first connected him with Choi. Prosecutors also secured testimony that “Kim Ki-choon also reportedly met with Song Sung-gak, former chief of the Korea Creative Content Agency, to verify his eligibility before his appointment to the post.” However, Kim is constantly insisting that he has never met, nor had a telephone call with Choi.