A famous K-Pop music video director, Cha Eun Taek, 46, was deemed part of the South Korean corruption scandal on Nov. 27, Sunday. The corruption issue rocks the country and engulfs President Park Geun Hye.
Cha who worked with "Gangnam Style" singer Psy and boy band BIGBANG allegedly used his ties to the president's secret confidante named Choi Soon Sil, 60, to win huge projects from private companies and state agencies, BBC reported. Choi is said to be the eminence grise of the president, allegedly leveraging her close relationship with Park to extract over $60 million from big companies like global tech giant Samsung.
Cha is the most recent public figure to be involved in the snowballing scandal, being charged with coercion,embezzlement and abuse of power. Park herself allegedly ordered her previous economic adviser to help Cha follow up private firms and officials to win contracts.
Prosecutors formally charged Park last week with coercion and abuse of power as a "co-culprit" of Choi to have top companies give cash to Choi-controlled non-profit foundations. Park is the first president in South Korea to be a suspect while in office. Her job approval ratings plummeted to 4 percent.
Hundreds of thousands of people marched the streets of South Korea in recent weeks calling for Park's ouster, the latest of which was on Nov. 26, Saturday, in Seoul. Police estimated the protest to have 270,000 attendees while organizers claimed it drew 1.5 million people.
As per South Korea's constitution, Park cannot be charged with any criminal offense as an incumbent president except treason or insurrection but can be investigated. She would be potentially charged once her term is over. She has 15 months left in her term.
However, the country's first female president could be impeached for violating the law as prosecutors directly linked her to criminal proceedings. She has addressed the public on Nov. 29, Tuesday, saying she is willing to step down as president and asked the parliament to have a plan to make sure the regime is stable amidst the current South Korean corruption scandal, The Financial Times reported.
Check out Park's latest public adddress below: