Yoo-ra begins return home to Korea for investigation

A team of Korean prosecutors made contact with Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, former President Park Geun-hye’s close confidante, who is set to be extradited from Denmark to Seoul today.

A prosecutor said that the Korean prosecution group met with the 21-year-old in Denmark at an undisclosed location Tuesday and that she was following the extradition procedures.

The Korean Ministry of Justice said that a team of five prosecutors will accompany Chung from Copenhagen Airport Tuesday, with a layover in Amsterdam before arriving at the Incheon International Airport Wednesday afternoon. She is expected to be immediately arrested with a pre-issued warrant and transferred to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho District, southern Seoul, to undergo investigation.

Chung will leave her 23-month-old son with a nanny in Denmark.

Her mother, Choi, is standing trial over the power abuse and corruption scandal surrounding Park, who was removed from office in March.

Chung is expected to be assigned to the Seoul Detention Center, where Park and her cousin, Jang Si-ho, Choi’s niece, is being held. However, there is a possibility that following investigation, Chung may be transferred to the Nambu Detention Center, where her mother is being held.

Chung was arrested in Aalborg, Denmark, in early January for illegal sojourn and detained for the past five months as she refused prosecutors’ summons to return to Korea. Last week, a Danish court accepted the Korean prosecution’s demand for Chung to be extradited to Seoul, which she initially appealed and later withdrew.

Chung is expected to be questioned on allegations that she received undue favors at Ewha Womans University and on Samsung Group’s contributions toward her equestrian training.

BY SARAH KIM, HYUN IL-HOON [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]