Former President Park Geun-hye leaves the courtroom after attending a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul, Monday. / Yonhap



Former president says she lost faith in court

By Jung Min-ho

Former President Park Geun-hye said Monday that she has "lost faith" in the nation's justice system, claiming she is nothing but a victim of political revenge.

Her remarks came during a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court after it decided last week to extend her detention for another six months.

"I was supposed to be released today," she said during the hearing at the court. "But the court issued another arrest warrant ... I can't accept its decision."

In protest of the decision, her lawyers resigned the same day.

"My lawyers and I felt helpless," she said. "I have lost faith that the court will do a fair job in accordance with the Constitution and conscience."

This was the first time she has spoken publicly since her trial began six months ago. After being ousted and arrested in March over a massive influence-peddling scandal involving her friend Choi Soon-sil, she barely said anything except yes or no whenever cameras were around.

Park insisted on her innocence, saying, "I did not comply with requests to favor anyone while in office." She also claimed the trial has shown that various suspicions surrounding her are false.

Then, in an apparent message aimed at President Moon Jae-in, the rival candidate she beat in the 2012 presidential election, and his governing Democratic Party of Korea, Park claimed she is just a victim of political strife.

"I hope I will be the last victim of political revenge in the name of the rule of law," she said.

"The last six months have been a horrible and miserable time for me. I had trust in a person who later betrayed me. As a result, I have lost my honor and everything else in life."

The most painful thing was to watch the suffering of the government officials and business leaders who trusted her, she noted.

"I may go through even more difficult times, but I won't give up," Park said. "That's because there are people who still trust and support me, and I believe the truth will come out in the end."

Issuing the second warrant Friday, the court said if she was released there were concerns she could destroy evidence and refuse to appear in court.

Yoo Yeong-ha, one of the seven lawyers who submitted their resignations, said the court has not been fair to them.

"Watching the principles of presumption of innocence and trial without detention helplessly collapsing, we feel no need to be involved in future court proceedings," he said. "We have reached a conclusion that any defense argument for the defendant is meaningless. All of us have decided to resign."

The court asked the lawyers to reconsider the decision, saying it did not issue the warrant because of political factors.

The trial cannot move forward without defense lawyers; thus, state lawyers have to replace them. The whole process will likely cause a major delay as the new legal team has to review more than 100,000 pages of investigation records and court documents.

"We will make sure the trial will continue to proceed in a fair manner in accordance with the Constitution and law," the court said.