hankyoreh

Lee Gyu-cheol

As the investigative team led by Special Prosecutor Park Young-soo attempts to question President Park Geun-hye in person around the end of this week, attention is focusing both on her questioning as well as on how the team will overcome Blue House opposition to a search and seizure, which the Blue House describes as an anti-Constitutional act. With the team reportedly planning to send a summons as early as this week to former Blue House Senior Secretary Woo Byung-woo, this week is likely to be a watershed point in the team‘s investigation.

“The search of seizure of the Blue House is not just for show, but is based on the need to collect evidence, which is an essential step in the investigation. We remain open to several possibilities, including the voluntary submission [of documents],” said spokesperson Lee Kyu-cheol during the regular press briefing on Feb. 5. Since the team’s warrant includes a specific list of places in the Blue House to raid and the documents required, this means that the team would be satisfied with voluntary submission of just those documents.

On Feb. 5, the Special Prosecutor provided a point-for-point rebuttal of the Blue House’s argument that the inclusion of Park as a “criminal suspect for bribery” on the warrant was an anti-Constitutional act. “The Special Prosecutor’s team has already classified Park as a criminal suspect, and the ban on prosecuting [a sitting president] does not mean that the president cannot be investigated,” Lee said.

“Not just the president but multiple people are listed as criminal suspects on the search warrant. Given that fact, the majority of locations in the Blue House would have been subject to the search, but the Special Prosecutor limited those to a minimum. It’s inappropriate for the Blue House to claim [that this is not a limited search],” Lee added.

The Special Prosecutor’s team reportedly means to stick with its planned schedule for Park’s face-to-face questioning regardless of whether the search and seizure goes ahead. The questioning is likely to be scheduled for Feb. 9 and 10. Reportedly, Park wants the questioning to take place at the Blue House for security reasons, while the team prefers a neutral location. Some possible locations are the Blue House’s safe house, Yeonmugwan Hall, which is off the main premises; the Korea Banking Institute, in the Samcheong neighborhood; and the government office annex, in the Changseong neighborhood.

By Seo Young-ji, staff reporter

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