05.02.2017
By Ee Seungjae
Today the wife of the plastic surgeon Gim Yeongjae, Bak Chaeyun, was re-summoned for questioning by prosecutors, after having been transferred to hospital yesterday before her scheduled interrogation due to complaining of having breathing difficulties. Bak, who had not answered any questions during her [brief?] attendance [at the prosecutors’ office] yesterday, today responded to questions from crowds of reporters before heading into the prosecutors’ office.
“My breathing is okay now,” Bak said. “I admit that President Bak had plastic surgery. If I were not to admit that, myself, my husband and our staff would all have been arrested.” But a member of the prosecution team said “of course we discussed the investigation with Ms Bak, but we didn’t make any progress towards the truth. Her comments are groundless. Yesterday as soon as she began to have breathing problems she was brought to the hospital.”
The investigation into Ms Bak is focused on what role her close relationship with President Bak played in favours being [potentially] given [to the President]. They will also be asking whether Choi Sunshil had any influence. The source believes that Ms Bak provided ₩25,000,000 [around £17,900/$22,000] to former Blue House executive An Jongbeom, along with a luxury bag and free plastic surgery. It is suspected that in return Ms Bak and her husband Dr Gim received ₩1,500,000,000 [around £1,000,000/$1,300,000] in R&D funding for the development of special medical facilities.
Analysis: the issue here is ostensibly corruption around providing surgery to the President and her aides, but of course the prurient detail that President Bak has apparently had plastic surgery is the main point of interest. As she’s fairly notorious for a relatively shabby personal appearance (an appearance which may have been directly overseen by Choi Sunshil) it’s unsurprising that Koreans are fascinated by this latest revelation in a case which continues to provide shocking details. Expect media outlets to now devote coverage to analysing photos of President Bak in order to pinpoint when surgery may have taken place.