Choi Seo-won, jailed 11 years, writes open letter to former President Park: 'I want to ask forgiveness before I die'

Choi Seo-won, formerly known as Choi Soon-sil, was recently released on a stay of execution and is receiving treatment at a hospital. She has published a handwritten open letter to former President Park Geun-hye through her daughter Chung Yoo-ra's social media, expressing a desire to ask for forgiveness. She also said a recent interview she gave to a media outlet had been distorted in a way entirely contrary to her intentions.

Chung posted the letter on her Facebook account Thursday, sharing a photo of the handwritten note along with its text.

In the letter, Choi said the interview had been twisted to suggest she had "suddenly betrayed President Park, breaking the trust she had maintained throughout 11 years of imprisonment." She pushed back against that characterization, saying she had "tried to stay by her side throughout her life" and that even during the special prosecutor investigation, despite pressure and coercive interrogation, she had sought to protect Park.

Choi went on to say she had given the interview out of desperation over mounting hospital bills and fear of being forced out of the hospital, asking that it be seen as "the frantic act of someone afraid of being thrown out." She added that she did not know whether she would ever see Park again before she died, but that she would "go to heaven carrying that loyalty in her heart."

She also described her financial hardship, saying she could not afford hospital bills amounting to tens of millions of won — the result of a decade's worth of indemnity claims. Her daughter Chung had co-signed as a guarantor to secure the stay of execution. "My daughter, who barely has enough for child-rearing expenses, paid my hospital bills before even covering lawyer's fees and settlement costs," she wrote, adding: "As prosecutor so-and-so said, three generations are living in hell."

She appealed for help, saying she did not want to leave her daughter burdened with hospital debt when she died.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court confirmed on April 14 that Ahn Min-seok, now the Gyeonggi Province superintendent of education, must pay Choi 20 million won ($13,300) in damages for defamation — but Choi has yet to receive the payment.