Cult leaders, soap operas and Viagra: S. Korea’s presidential scandal has it all

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s latest political scandal has all the makings of a thriller in which the decisions of the president, lonely and isolated, are influenced by a longtime friend, right down to personnel and policy moves, even what to wear.

Making it even more twisted is that the friend’s father, a cult leader, used similar Rasputin-like control on President Park Geun-hye’s father when he held the top office until he was assassinated in part because of that unhealthy relationship.

Toss in some Viagra, visits to a detox clinic under a pseudonym, a deadly ferry sinking and mass protests even as neighboring North Korea threatens apocalyptic attacks.

In a country where corruption probes have plagued other leaders, this one has gripped the populace and paralyzed the government as the 64-year-old president tries to find the least-humiliating path to step down. She has immunity from criminal charges, but a parliamentary vote on impeachment looms Friday.

The friend, Choi Soon-sil, has been charged with using her connections to persuade companies to donate more than $70 million to two nonprofit foundations that she runs.

But it’s not the money that has hit a nerve. South Koreans are angry over the increasingly outrageous details that have emerged about the influence Choi wielded in the halls of power.

“The most frustrating thing is that the real president was Choi Soon-sil, who is just a normal person without any official authority,” pollster Erica Lee said.

Park has denied wrongdoing but acknowledged allowing Choi to edit some of her most important speeches. The leader apologized three times on nationwide live TV for showing poor judgment, but that has failed to stop hundreds of thousands of protesters from flooding streets in Seoul and other major cities for six weeks in a row.

So how did things spiral downward so fast for Park, who would be the first South Korean president forced to resign since the country’s founder went into exile after a military coup?

It started with one of the worst-kept secrets of the presidential Blue House: the nearly four-decade-long friendship between Park and the daughter of the late religious-cult leader Choi Tae-min.

Park became entangled with the Choi family after her mother was killed in a failed assassination attempt against her father, then-dictator Park Chung-hee, in 1974.

Witnesses have said the elder Choi — who in turn was a former Buddhist monk, a Christian mystic and religious-cult leader — became a mentor after claiming to be in communication with Park’s mother’s spirit. Choi Soon-sil, the daughter from his fifth marriage, reportedly took over that role after he died in 1994.

Park’s father was killed in 1979 by his spy chief, Kim Jae-gyu, who later told a court that one of his motives was the leader’s failure to stop Choi Tae-min’s corrupt activities and to keep him away from Park.

A cable released by WikiLeaks also quoted former U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow as describing claims that the elder Choi had a Rasputin-like influence over the leader.

“Rumors are rife that the late pastor had complete control over Park’s body and soul during her formative years and that his children accumulated enormous wealth as a result,” he said in 2007.

Choi Soon-sil, whose ex-husband was Park’s former chief of staff, has been frequently dubbed a “mysterious confidante,” though her presence in the president’s inner circle has long been known. Two of Park’s former aides are accused of helping her extort millions of dollars from some of South Korea’s largest conglomerates or providing her with classified documents.

A member of Park’s ruling Saenuri Party reportedly said she once begged the president to call the so-called “mysterious woman” because that was the only way Park could make a decision.

Choi Soon-sil, 60, was forced from the shadows when the South Korean TV network JTBC found about 200 digital files from a computer in her office that included Park’s speeches and official remarks before they were made.

In Germany when the scandal erupted, she flew back to Seoul to submit herself for questioning and reportedly lost her hat, sunglasses and a shoe in a scrum of journalists and protesters.

Meanwhile, the rumor mill went into overdrive, and no sector of South Korean society was left unscathed, with pop artists and prominent businessmen finding themselves under scrutiny for purported links to Choi.

A prominent women’s university also has come under investigation amid allegations that it gave special preference to Choi Soon-sil’s daughter, a former member of the national equestrian team.

Many allegations remain unproven, but that doesn’t matter to a public that is reeling from what is widely perceived as a betrayal of trust.

The fact that some of the most bizarre claims have turned out to be true has not helped the president’s situation. For example, her office was forced to defend a Viagra purchase revealed by medical insurance data. Spokesman Jung Youn-kuk insisted doctors prescribed the pills for their alternate purpose of preventing or treating altitude sickness during a May trip to Africa. He added that none of the pills was actually used on that trip.

Park also once used the name of a South Korean soap opera actress as a pseudonym at a beauty and detox clinic, according to the Reuters news agency.

One of the main rallying cries against Park dates to April 16, 2014, when the Sewol ferry sank, killing more than 300 people and prompting widespread anger over the systematic failures that allowed it to happen.

The current scandal, known on Twitter as #choigate, has raised new suspicions about the so-called “missing seven hours,” when Park was out of touch during the tragedy.

Her office has said Park was informed of the ferry sinking by phone and other reports, but she has never explained what she was doing during that time period to the public’s satisfaction and continues to be criticized for failing to handle the crisis properly.

One of the most frequented displays at the weekly protests is an emotional memorial to the Sewol victims, with people often coming away in tears.

We were almost in the same boat!