South Korea's president is engulfed in a political scandal with plotlines straight out of a soap opera: rumors of secret advisers, nepotism and ill-gotten gains. This debacle is “breathtaking” even by the standards of South Korea, where political scandals are a dime a dozen, said Se-woong Koo, editor of the Korea Exposé Web magazine. Who is this Choi Soon-sil? Park’s father, Park Chung-hee, was an army general who seized control of South Korea in a military coup in 1961. She set up two foundations with about $70 million donated from the big business lobby in South Korea, which counts Samsung and Hyundai among its members.

Source: Washington Post November 03, 2016 16:59 UTC