Choi Soon-sil, President Park Geun-hye’s longtime friend at the center of an influence-peddling and corruption scandal, appeared at court Monday for her first hearing and denied all the charges against her.



Arguing that she had never “colluded” with the impeached President Park and ex-presidential officials to extort money from conglomerates, Choi vowed to fight back against 11 accounts raised against her during the preparatory hearing at the Seoul Central District Court.



It was the first public appearance of Choi, who has been in custody, since she appeared for questioning by the prosecution in late October. She was indicted on charges of abuse of authority, extortion and attempted fraud in late November.





(Park Hae-mook/ The Korea Herald)

Choi, who said publicly earlier she had committed a sin that deserves death, signaled that she would clarify herself and fight back against charges throughout the upcoming trials.



“When I first came back from Germany, I was ready to abide by any punishment, but now that I have faced interrogations and (false) charges, I only feel that I should clarify myself,” she mumbled in front of some 150 spectators in the courtroom.



“I am sorry for causing trouble. I will sincerely go through the trial,” she said.



Choi was escorted into the courtroom by a female guard and sat next to her lawyer. She appeared in a white prison uniform and black-framed glasses, looking nervous and mostly keeping her head down.



Choi, who has neither government post nor policy background, is suspected of colluding with President Park and an ex-presidential aide An Chong-bum to coerce donations from conglomerates for the Mir and K-Sports foundations which she controlled for her personal gains. .



“Eight of the allegations raised by the prosecution are that she colluded with the president,” Choi’s lawyer Lee Kyung-jae said. “As she did not collude with the president, she cannot be found guilty of the charges.”



Choi Soon-sil, accused of being involved in an influence-peddling scandal, enters a court room in Seoul on Monday. (Park Hae-mook/ The Korea Herald)