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The Seoul Western ProsecutorsĄ¯ Office says it has found evidence that the disgraced curator at the heart of a snowballing scandal brokered art purchases for government agencies with the help of former presidential secretary for national policy Byeon Yang-kyoon. Prosecutors say Byeon spent state funds on the purchase of two paintings, one worth W8 million (US$1=W931) and the other worth W12 million, from the Sungkok Art Museum, where Shin Jeong-ah worked while Byeon was planning and budget minister.
They say they also have evidence that Byeon helped Shin, with whom he apparently had a romantic relationship, win orders to change the paintings in other government agencies and the central government complex. Senior prosecutor Koo Bon-min told reporters his colleagues were given related documents by the government agencies concerned and are questioning officials involved in the purchases.
One large corporation contributed a huge amount of money to the museum while Byeon held the planning and budget portfolio, prosecutors say. Prosecutors questioned staff from the museum and corporation to find whether it got favorable treatment from the government in return for these financial contributions.
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Former presidential secretary for national policy Byeon Yang-kyoon leaves his lawyer's office on Thursday. He apologized for his discretions, bu trefused to comment on the nature of his relationship with the disgraced curator Shin Jeon-ah.
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They are also investigating whether the former presidential secretary, who resigned over the scandal Monday, helped the museum collect funds needed for a makeover from March to July last year. Prosecutors have grilled budget officials at Dongguk University on suspicion that Byeon helped the university collect development funds in return for hiring Shin as an assistant professor.
Shin is expected to return to Korea soon since prosecutors have identified her whereabouts in the U.S., where she fled after the scandal broke. They are tracking a mobile phone they think Shin used when she fled from Europe to the U.S. on July 12. If the phone is found, it could shed more light on the process of ShinĄ¯s escape.
There is also evidence that Byeon recommended Shin to Dongguk University despite knowing that her Yale doctorate was bogus, prosecutors said.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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