'I regret meeting Choi Soon-sil,' says David Yoon in Germany

'I regret meeting Choi Soon-sil,' says David Yoon in Germany. January. 09, 2017 07:05. by Jung-Min Dong ditto@donga.com.

David Yoon, who reportedly knows well about the life in Germany of Choi Soon-sil and her daughter and dubbed "Choi’s steward" and "helper for Chung Yu-ra’s escape," had an exclusive interview with the Dong-A Ilbo on Thursday. “I was merely a messenger,” Yoon said. “I regret meeting Choi in the first place.”

Dong-A interviewed Yoon at a hotel in Paris, France for about two hours. According to Yoon, he went to Byblis horse-riding center with her and helped translation of documents, and assisted Chung and her husband’s early settlement in July 2015 when Choi came to Germany to do business in earnest. But he denied that he was involved in their business. “I just came to know the term ‘jipsa (steward)’ recently, because my Korean proficiency is limited,” he said. “Since I am not their business partner nor do I have any knowledge about their wealth, I cannot be called jipsa.”

Yoon said he met with Choi every time she visited Germany since in early 1990s through his father, but added that as an acquaintance, he informed her of the locations of some Korean restaurants and shopping centers when asked. On the suspicion that that he connected Choi with Budel in Austria in late 2014 on the trademark when Choi was operating café Testarosa, Yoon said, “All I received was 3 million won (2,500 U.S. dollars) in the name of translation fee.”

Yoon said, “It was bothersome as Chung asked me multiple favors including purchase of dog food just because I was a close acquaintance of her mother (Choi),” but denied all previous Korean news reports that he provided Chung with a shelter and gave her rides for shopping in Germany.