An Min-seok Claims "Choi Soon-sil's Overseas Slush Fund Worth Trillions," to Appear in Court on the 23rd

2016~17 Remarks Controversy... Defamation Charges
Rep. Ahn Fails in 6th Term Bid After Nomination Exclusion

Democratic Party lawmaker Ahn Min-seok, who raised various suspicions about Choi Seo-won (formerly Choi Soon-sil), known as the unofficial power behind the so-called 'state affairs manipulation scandal' during former President Park Geun-hye's administration, will stand trial this week.

Judge Lee Jae-hyun of the Suwon District Court Criminal Division 19 will hold the first hearing on the 23rd for Ahn, who has been indicted on charges including defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection. Ahn was brought to trial for allegedly damaging Choi's reputation by making unverified statements on various broadcast media from 2016 to 2017.

Ahn Min-seok, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the National Assembly plenary session held on September 8 last year during the education, social, and cultural government questioning. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

At the time, Ahn stated, "I confirmed from the German prosecutor's office that Choi Soon-sil's hidden assets in Germany amount to trillions of won and that there are hundreds of German paper companies used for money laundering," "Choi Soon-sil met with the chairman of a foreign defense company and pushed through a weapons contract," and "Money from domestic companies deposited in secret Swiss accounts is related to Choi Soon-sil."

Choi claimed that all of Ahn's statements were false and filed a complaint against him with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in September 2019. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office transferred the case to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office. Earlier, in 2017, a conservative group also filed a complaint against Ahn on the same charges, which was investigated by the Osan Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, Ahn's constituency, and then sent to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office. The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, which merged the two cases for investigation, found grounds for defamation charges against Ahn and indicted him without detention in November last year.

After Ahn's indictment, Choi filed an additional complaint based on other statements, but it is known that this was not merged into the current trial. In the additional complaint, Choi alleged that Ahn spread false information at his book launch event held in June 2017 in Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi Province, claiming that "Choi Soon-sil instructed Jang Si-ho to 'take down Ahn Min-seok. We need to thoroughly investigate Ahn Min-seok.'" Choi is currently serving an 18-year prison sentence confirmed in 2020 on charges of abuse of power and bribery.

Meanwhile, Ahn, a five-term lawmaker from the pro-Lee Jae-myung faction, failed to secure the party nomination in the April 10 general election, thus failing to win a sixth term. He opposed being cut off from the nomination after his constituency, Osan in Gyeonggi Province, was designated a strategic district, and filed for a reconsideration but ultimately accepted the party's decision.