The Choi Soon-sil scandal is increasingly putting foreign and security policymakers in the spotlight, amid a growing trail of allegations she may have meddled in key diplomatic initiatives, the selection of high-level posts and major defense procurement projects.

Evidence has been found that Choi, President Park Geun-hye’s longtime friend, was given classified records, such as a preview of Park’s 2014 speech in Dresden, Germany, and chose clothes and accessories to be worn by her during her overseas trips.

Yet incumbent and former officials, lawmakers and the press have been relaying fresh suspicions about Choi, who has no experience in diplomacy, security or overall government affairs.

A recent news report alleged that Park’s description of unification as “daebak (a bonanza)” in launching her flagship campaign in 2014 was an outcome of Choi’s meeting with three core presidential aides, citing the prosecution in charge of investigating the scandal.

The “unification bonanza” initiative triggered controversy upon its introduction, with many officials raising doubts about the sudden shift in North Korea policy and the suitability of the term. Cheong Wa Dae officials spent days coming up with the best English translation.

On Monday, Kim Jae-chun, a consul at Seoul’s consulate-general in Ho Chi Minh City, claimed in a media interview that former Ambassador to Vietnam Jeon Dae-ju got the job because he had helped Choi’s nephew conduct kindergarten business in the Southeast Asian country.

Though every administration has political appointees as ambassadors and consuls-general, Jeon’s appointment in 2013 caught many by surprise because he has been doing business there for nearly 20 years and had no diplomatic experience at all.

Kim took issue with the legitimacy of background checks, saying the Foreign Ministry had no knowledge of Jeon, instead asking for his resume, which showed he was head of the presidential National Unification Advisory Council’s Vietnam unit.

The related ministries dismissed the claims. The Unification Ministry spokesperson Jeong Joon-hee flatly denied the possibility of Choi’s involvement in the unification bonanza drive Monday, saying talk of the positive effects of a unified Korea had been circulated since the early 2000s, including through a namesake book authored by a professor.

Foreign Ministry officials were also skeptical of Choi’s influence in personnel affairs, while acknowledging the pick of Jeon reflected Cheong Wa Dae’s decision.

Jeon, who retired in April, also said in another interview he did not know the Choi family at all nor about his appointment process, and that he “is an acquaintance” with the nephew, Jang Seung-ho, but offered Jang no assistance.

“We’ve found no foul play in (Jeon’s) appointment process. It was legitimate,” a senior ministry official told reporters Wednesday on customary condition of anonymity. “We’re looking into the consul’s assertions, including by speaking with him to find out the truth.”

Speculation persists over Choi’s potential involvement in high-profile yet controversial decisions such as the announcement of the shutdown of a joint inter-Korean factory last February, the plan to station a US missile shield here and Seoul’s 2013 decision to select the Boeing F-15SE for the 7.3 trillion won ($6.4 billion) fighter jet buy program in favor of Lockheed Martin’s F-35A.

Rep. An Min-suk of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea also said Wednesday he has received tip-offs the Chois have sent “massive money-laundering commissions” to a Swiss bank over the last three years and interfered with the naming of chiefs of state-run overseas cultural centers in New York and other two places.

“Most of the allegations surfaced so far concerned sports, horse-riding and culture, but much bigger ones are yet to come,” the lawmaker, who chairs a citizens’ committee to examine the scandal, said at a seminar.

“I think only one-tenth (of Choi’s irregularities) has come to light, and the rest of them are related to defense and diplomacy and entails a lot larger financial scale.”

With unabated controversy, many officials are expressing frustration and raising the need for a thorough investigation.

A group of 42 foreign affairs and security experts including former Unification Ministers Jeong Se-hyun and Lee Jong-seok issued a joint statement earlier in the day, calling for the disgraced president to take the responsibility for the national crisis by opting out of not just domestic affairs but also diplomacy and security.

“Different points of view aside, some decisions don’t make much sense even to me, like the closure of the Kaesong industrial park,” a working-level diplomat said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

“I firmly believe Choi’s influence in foreign policy and security was minimal, if any, but it’s true that the growing allegations are bothering many of us,” another senior official engaged in North Korea policy said.

“I think there needs to be a full fact-finding probe, whether it be by the current prosecutors’ team or a to-be-launched independent special investigation, into all claims so as to prevent further distractions at least.”

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)