The expression, "colluded with the president" was mentioned nine times in the written charges of Choi Soon-sil (60), a "secret heavyweight"; Ahn Jong-beom (57), former Cheong Wa Dae senior secretary for policy coordination; and Jeong Ho-seong (47), Cheong Wa Dae secretary of the Office of the First Lady, indicted on November 20, when explaining how they came to commit their criminal acts. It is actually more difficult to find a criminal allegation that does not involve the president. Thus according to the judicial circle, President Park is the main culprit and the other three including Choi are the accessories to crime.
According to the written charges of these three figures, President Park colluded with them on a total of seven allegations. First, she allegedly forced the 53 member companies of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) to donate 77.4 billion won for the establishment of the MI-R Foundation and the K Sports Foundation. During the two days, July 24 and 25, last year, the president privately met with seven businessmen including Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics Lee Jae-yong and Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group Chung Mong-koo and asked them to "actively support the establishment of the foundations." She then ordered former Senior Secretary Ahn to collect money from the businesses to establish a 30 billion won-size foundation in the field of culture and sports.
At around October 2015, when the MI-R Foundation was founded, Choi told former Secretary Jeong that they had to establish the foundation before Chinese Premier Li Keqiang came to Korea so that they could sign an MOU with China, and Jeong delivered the message to President Park. President Park then ordered Ahn to hasten the establishment of the foundation, allegedly forcing the companies to cough up donations. Around December 2015, when the K Sports Foundation was established, President Park delivered the requests of Choi concerning the list of the foundation's executives and the location of the office, which she received through Jeong, to Ahn.
President Park allegedly ordered Ahn to deliver material introducing Playground Communications, the advertising company of Cha Eun-taek, Choi's close acquaintance, to Hyundai Motor Company, so that the company could get Hyundai Motor's advertising contracts. This allowed Playground to sign five advertising contracts worth 6.2 billion won in just the two months of April and May this year, allowing the company to enjoy profits of approximately 918 million won.
President Park was also an accomplice in allegations that the government forced Lotte to donate 7 billion won to the K Sports Foundation. President Park privately met with Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin last March and then told Ahn that Lotte decided to fund 7.5 billion won and ordered him to track the progress.
In connection to POSCO, President Park allegedly gave orders to establish a sports team (badminton) and have The Blue K, run by Choi, manage the team. The prosecutors also suspected that President Park ordered Ahn to have the POSCO chairman look into the sales of POREKA, an advertising firm and also a POSCO-affiliate, so that it would not go into the hands of a large company when it was sold in February 2015. In this case, the prosecutors did not think that the president engaged in collusion, but suspected her involvement. Reportedly, the president also ordered Ahn to contact the chairman of KT so that Choi's acquaintance, Lee Dong-su could be recruited and so that Playground Communications could get KT's advertising contracts. She allegedly ordered Ahn to introduce The Blue K to Grand Korea Leisure (GKL), a public enterprise affiliated to the Korea Tourism Organization, as a consulting firm in establishing a sports team for the disabled.
The prosecutors designated President Park as an accomplice along with former Secretary Jeong in leaking official classified information. The president ordered Jeong to deliver 47 documents including classified information from January 2013 until last April via e-mail or in person.
An official from the Special Investigation Division said, "We drew up the written charges based on facts that have been disclosed without any strategic judgment. As for the contents in the written charges, perhaps not 100%, but at least 99% of what is included, we can prove." President Park's representative refuted, "The 'collusion' or the involvement of the president mentioned in the written charges have no legal effect on the president, and they were written without investigating the president. Without a final judgment by a judicial institute, it is legally meaningless."