EIGHT SOUTH KOREAN TYCOONS PRESENT SCANDAL HEARING|朴槿惠閨密門聽證會 南韓八大財閥現身

In South Korea, the parliament held an investigative hearing on December 6 over President Park Geun-hye's corruption and cronyism scandal. For the first time in history, the heads of South Korea's eight largest conglomerates gathered under the same roof. According to media reports, Park has agreed to step down, but not before next April. The opposition parties therefore insisted on holding a parliamentary impeachment vote this coming Friday to tackle President Park's stalling tactic. On December 6, heads of the top eight South Korean conglomerates showed up together at the parliamentary hearing on President Park Geun-hye's political scandal involving her confidante. Samsung's vice chairman Lee Jae-yong said that he attended the hearing with a heavy heart. He admitted having met with President Park in private where he was urged to support the culture and sports sectors but was not specifically asked to make donations. ==LEE JAE-YONG, Samsung Vice Chairman == Samsung is frequently asked to make donations to the culture and sports sectors, but we have never contributed seeking quid pro quo. Not even in this case! According to South Korean media, a total of 53 businesses have made donations to Choi Sool-sil's two foundations. Samsung made the most donations, reaching ₩2.04 billion, or NT$560 million. The prosecutors searched Samsung's headquarters in November. It was reported that Samsung provided Choi's daughter with nearly NT$100 million for horse training. Lee emphasized that he will take on related responsibilities. ==LEE JAE-YONG, Samsung Vice Chairman == I will take on all legal and ethical responsibilities. The hearing was the special investigation committee's first meeting, and the second hearing will be held on January 7. Choi and her daughter, as well as the senior staff in the Blue House, will attend the meeting. The Blue House has announced that President Park will give her fourth national talk over the next two days and agrees to step down next April, which will then be followed by an election in June. However, the opposition parties insisted on holding a parliamentary impeachment vote, which is likely to force President Park to step down before next April. TRANSLATED BY：LUKE CHIANG 包括南韓三星，現代跟SK集團等八大企業高階主管，6號前往南韓國會，出席總統朴槿惠親信干政事件聽證會，這也是南韓史上首次出現最具影響力的企業財閥，一字排開現身國會的場景。三星集團副會長，也是三星集團接班人的李在鎔首先表示，他帶著沉重的心情出席聽證會，並坦承今年確實有跟朴槿惠私下會面，朴槿惠請他支持促進文化與體育相關發展，但沒有明確提出捐款要求。 ==南韓三星集團副會長 李在鎔== 三星集團常遇到 文化跟體育界要求捐款的情況 但我們從來沒有透過捐款 來尋求對價關係 這個案子也是一樣 南韓媒體指出，共有53個企業團體，捐款給朴槿惠密友崔順實操控的兩個基金會，其中三星集團捐款高達204億韓元，折合超過5.6億台幣，金額是所有企業之冠，南韓檢方為此，11月曾搜查三星集團辦公室。外傳，三星也曾贈送一匹馬術專用的馬匹，給崔順實的女兒使用，金額將近1億台幣。48歲的李在鎔強調，願意負起相關的衍生責任。 ==南韓三星集團副會長 李在鎔== 有關目前的情況 如果有任何法律跟道德上的責任 我將會一肩扛起 6號的聽證會，是特別調查委員會首次開會，由九名執政黨新國家黨跟九名在野黨議員輪流進行訊問，全程直播。第二次聽證會將在1月7號舉行，到時候主角崔順實跟她的女兒，以及南韓青瓦台高層幕僚都將出席。另一方面，青瓦台5號表示，朴槿惠可能在這兩天會發表第四次對國民談話，宣布同意在明年4月下台，並在6月舉行大選。但南韓在野黨跟獨立黨派，堅持9號表決彈劾案，並聲稱已獲得執政黨40位國會議員支持，極可能跨越彈劾門檻，一舉將朴槿惠拉下馬來，不會讓她拖到明年4月。 記者 靳元慶 報導