South Korea Seeks Arrest of Former President

Local Editor

South Korean prosecutors had applied for an arrest warrant for former president Park Geun-hye, for her role in a corruption scandal.

Earlier this month, she lost her presidential immunity and was dismissed from her post when the constitutional court upheld a decision by parliament to impeach her.

Park is accused of allowing her close friend Choi Soon-sil to allegedly extort money from big firms.

Park has denied the allegations.

The former president apologized to the public last week, before being questioning by authorities for 14 hours.

"The case is very grave as the suspect has demonstrated acts of abuse of power by making companies give money and infringing on the freedom of corporate management by using powerful position and authority as president," prosecutors said in a statement on Monday.

The prosecutors argue that evidence like computer hard drives might be destroyed if Park is not arrested.
Choi has been charged with bribery and corruption and is already on trial.

The Seoul Central District Court will now determine whether there are grounds to issue the arrest warrant for Park.

If it is issued, prosecutors will have up to 20 days to continue investigations and file charges against her, reports Reuters news agency.

As president she had enjoyed immunity and repeatedly refused to take part in questioning.

But now she could face several charges, including abuse of power, coercion, bribery and leaking government secrets.

south korea | park geun-hye

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team