[LEAD]
SBS has been releasing a series of reports regarding crimes of celebrities and their alleged collusive ties with the authority.
Since figuring out the potential bribery or connection between the celebrities and the authority is the fundamental key of the scandal, we would like to focus on the issue for today.
Choi Jong Hoon, who is one of the participants of the group chatroom, talked about the "Police General" mentioned in the chatroom like this:
[Reporter: How did you know the police director 'Yoon', the "Police General"?]
[Choi Jong Hoon: I have no relation to him.]
Choi denied his relation to the police director after his questioning.
But we have talked with Choi Jong Hoon earlier this month before the report extends, and Choi revealed his relationship with the police director 'Yoon' in detail. Kim Jong-won reports.
[REPORT]
On March 2, nine days before our initial report about the cozy ties between high-profile celebrities and the authority, we had a phone interview with FTISLAND member Choi Jong Hoon.
At the time, Choi Jong Hoon talked about the connection between Yuri Holdings co-founder 'Yu' and a police director in detail.
[Reporter : You know that we're looking into 'Yu' and his collusive ties with police?]
[Choi Jong Hoon : Higher-ups in the police? That's right. I think he (Yu) knows some.]
The police director 'Yoon' was the one that Choi described as a "higher-up."
Choi even showed us a photo of the police director 'Yoon', and told us that he played golf with 'Yoon', and that he had heard the police director works for the Blue House.
[Choi Jong Hoon : We've played golf together once. I heard that he was in the Blue House. He probably worked for the Blue House thanks to his experience being in the police.]
Choi said the police director's wife had also played golf together.
[Reporter: So you played golf together with 'Yu', 'Yoon', and his wife? Four of you?]
[Choi Jong Hoon : You're right. In Korea.]
They played golf in early 2018, when 'Yoon' served as an administrator at the Blue House's Secretary Office for Civil Affairs.
Yoon's wife is also a senior police officer who worked in Malaysia.
The police couple did play golf with celebrities and businessmen, but Choi said that he cannot remember who paid for the green fees.
Golfing was not the only one.
Choi also revealed that he had prepared some K-pop concert tickets for Yoon's wife in Malaysia.
[Choi Jong Hoon : His wife lives in Malaysia with their kids. So when I had a concert in Malaysia, I gave her tickets. I still know her phone number. She is on the messenger application.]
The concert took place in August 2018, and the tickets had been worth 210 thousand won (approximately 185 dollars) for VVIP seats, and 150 thousand won (approximately 132 dollars) for VIP seats.
[Choi Jong Hoon : He told me that 'Yoon' is in the Blue House, so he is very high-ranking. I think they are very close. He called him "hyung," and told me to take good care of them when I hand them the tickets.]
The police director 'Yoon' stated that he did play golf and had a meal with SEUNGRI and other celebrities, but insisted that he was the one who paid for the meal and did not have any requests from them.
Choi Jong Hoon also confessed his past DUI incident, but denied having collusive ties with the police director for it.
The public is questioning the authenticity of their testimony, and the existence of another corrupted police official amid snowballing suspicions.
▶ [단독] 최종훈 관계 없다더니…윤 총경과 골프에 K팝 티켓까지
(SBS Star)