REUTERS-South Korea's
impeached President Park Geun-hye on Sunday broke a month-long silence over her
alleged role in a corruption scandal, publicly denying
charges of wrongdoing
and saying that the accusations against her were "fabrication and
falsehood."
Park also said that
she was set up over allegations that she ordered the government to support a
2015 merger of two affiliates of South Korean conglomerate Samsung, a deal
which has become central to the investigation.
"It's
completely framed," she was quoted by local media as saying, without
elaborating.
Park is being
investigated over accusations that she gave favors to big businesses in return
for financial contributions to entities controlled by her friend, Choi
Soon-sil.
On Sunday, Park
denied Choi was allowed to wield undue and wide-reaching influence over state
affairs.
In a hastily
arranged briefing over tea, the leader met reporters from domestic media in her
first event since being impeached by parliament on Dec. 9.
Park's fate is in
the hands of Constitutional Court judges who have up to 180 days to uphold the
impeachment or reinstate her.
She last appeared in
public on Nov. 29, offering to step down if parliament could agree on a way for
her to leave office.
Opposition parties
rejected that offer and led a motion to impeach Park by a wide margin, joined
by some members of her own Saenuri Party. The Constitutional Court is set to
begin hearing arguments from both sides.
Park has denied
wrongdoing previously but apologized for carelessness in her ties with Choi, a
friend for four decades, who has also denied wrongdoing. Choi is in detention while
on trial.
SAMSUNG MERGER UNDER
SCRUTINY
Park said on Sunday
that the decision by the country's national pension fund to back a merger
between two Samsung Group affiliates was "a just policy decision"
made for national interest, and that the deal was supported by many brokerage
firms at the time.
"I did not have
an iota of thinking to help anyone and the thought never crossed my mind,"
Park said.
"This is not
the place to tell you all the details, but what I can clearly say now is that I
did nothing whatsoever to favor anyone or collude with anyone to do that."
The merger in 2015
of Samsung Group affiliates Cheil Industries Inc and Samsung C&T Corp has
become a key part of the probe into influence peddling at the pinnacle of South
Korean politics.
The deal has been
criticized by some investors for strengthening the founding family's control of
Samsung Group, South Korea's largest "chaebol", or conglomerate, at
the expense of other shareholders.
The National Pension
Service, which had 545 trillion won ($451.78 billion) under management at the
end of September and was a major shareholder in the two Samsung affiliates,
voted in favor of the merger without calling in an external committee that
sometimes advises it on difficult votes.
Park, 64, is accused
of colluding with Choi to pressure big businesses including Samsung to make
contributions to non-profit foundations backing presidential initiatives.
Hundreds of
thousands of people have turned out in central Seoul for ten straight weekends
to demand Park's immediate ouster, but she has defied the call and indicated
through her lawyers that she will fight impeachment in court.
Park's comments on
Sunday were more detailed than previous ones, and also touched on allegations
of negligence over the handling of the Sewol ferry disaster in April 2014 that
killed more than 300 passengers, mostly school children.
Park was criticized
for mishandling the rescue efforts and questions have persisted about her
whereabouts during the seven hours between the first report of the accident and
her appearance in the government's emergency room.
Park said she had
remained in the residential quarters of the official Blue House residence on
April 16 because no official event had been scheduled, but received reports
about rescue operations before moving to the nearby situation room when the
magnitude of the disaster became evident.
She denied
allegations that she failed to pay closer attention to the rescue because she
was receiving a cosmetic procedure at the time.
"That is not
possible even by common sense."
REUTERS
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