Netizens said Choi's look differed from when she appeared at the prosecutors' office on Monday to when she was sent to Seoul Correction on Tuesday. / Screen captured from YouTube



By Lee Han-soo, Park Si-soo

Is the arrested Choi Soon-sil a "fake"? Rumors abound on the internet that the woman who was summoned to the prosecution early this week and taken into custody Thursday night was not Choi but her double.

Netizens said Choi's look differed from when she appeared at the prosecutors' office on Monday to when she was sent to Seoul Correction on Tuesday.

"Choi Soon-sil has severe hair loss on the right side of her head and her double eyelid has a lot of wrinkles," wrote a netizen, who suspected Choi was using a double. "However, the picture that was taken Tuesday shows the female officer pressing Choi's head to make it look like she has hair loss. Her double eyelid also is clearer and her wrinkles seem to have disappeared."

Others questioned the reason for concealing her face with a mask and glasses when the country knows what Choi looks like.

None of the rumors have been confirmed. But they reflect deep public distrust of the prosecution dealing with the growing scandal.

Unlike previous high-profile scandals, in which the prosecution took immediate custody of key suspects arriving from overseas, it "generously" gave Choi a 31-hour rest before questioning. Critics say this was long enough for her to destroy evidence or coordinate her story with others involved in the scandal. It was confirmed that during the free hours Choi met her lawyer at a luxury hotel in Seoul and discussed how to deal with the probe. She even withdrew money from her bank accounts.

Legal experts say netizens' imagination has gone too far. But they said such rumors provided a snapshot of law enforcement losing the people's confidence.