SEOUL, Nov. 28 (Yonhap) -- The presidential office on Friday denied a news report that a former aide to President Park Geun-hye meddled in state affairs through regular meetings with a core group of presidential officials.
On the front page of Friday's paper, the vernacular daily Segye Times ran an article under the headline "Jeong Yun-hoe's meddling in state affairs is true," claiming the former aide held regular meetings with a group of 10 other people, including three of Park's closest secretaries, to exchange information on state affairs.
The report, citing an internal document of the presidential office dated Jan. 6, also claimed that Jeong instructed the group to inform the press and other news outlets of plans to replace Park's chief of staff, Kim Ki-choon, so that the right mood could be created for his replacement.
The former aide holds no official title in the current administration but is reported to still wield enormous influence in the running of state affairs.
Park's spokesman, Min Kyung-wook, strongly denied the allegations, saying the report is totally groundless.
"The report regarding Cheong Wa Dae in today's Segye Times is not true," he said in a press briefing. "The reported (allegations) are nothing but a collection of groundless rumors."
The internal document cited in the article was a report on rumors that were circulating in the financial community at the time, not a formal report for the alleged internal inspection, Min said.
The internal document cited in the article was a report on rumors that were circulating in the financial community at the time, not a formal report for the alleged internal inspection, Min said.
The chief of staff received a verbal report on the rumors at the time but the presidential office found them to be untrue and took no action against those cited in the article, the spokesman added.
Later in the day, Min said three of the 10 presidential officials decided to lodge a complaint with the prosecution against the daily on charges of libel.
The presidential office will also request the prosecution to investigate a former official at the presidential office, who authored the internal document, about whether he violated the law on management of public records, Min added.
The main opposition party New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) immediately attacked the administration, claiming that the allegations it has raised about the existence of a secret group of aides controlling Cheong Wa Dae were proven to be true.
"The (10 members of the reported group) and those involved in writing up the document must (testify) before the National Assembly's steering committee," NPAD spokesman Kim Sung-soo said in a press briefing. "Our party will focus our powers on this issue."
Earlier on Monday, the daily reported that the presidential office launched an inspection in January into allegations that Jeong took hundreds of millions of won (hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars) in bribes in exchange for favors in high-level government appointments.
Earlier on Monday, the daily reported that the presidential office launched an inspection in January into allegations that Jeong took hundreds of millions of won (hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars) in bribes in exchange for favors in high-level government appointments.
The paper also claimed that the inspection was halted in February after the police official in charge was abruptly sent back to the police from his assignment at the presidential office.
Cheong Wa Dae denied those allegations, saying it will take "strong measures" against articles that are not true.
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