hankyoreh

Former President Park Geun-hye underwent 14 hours of intensive questioning by Prosecutors on Mar. 21 over charges of accepting 43.3 billion won (US$38.5 million) in bribes, including 29.8 billion won (US$26.5 million) from Samsung.

The questioning came 11 days after Park was removed from office, and half a year - 183 days - after a Hankyoreh report first broke the Choi Sun-sil government interference scandal. Park is now the fourth former president in South Korean history to be questioned by prosecutors in connection with improprieties during his or her term.

The Prosecutors’ special investigation headquarters, headed by Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office chief Lee Yeong-ryeol, summoned Park on Mar. 21 for 14 hours and five minutes of questioning from 9:35 am until 11:40 pm on a total of 13 criminal charges, including the acceptance of 43.3 billion won in bribes, some of which came from Samsung. After reading the suspect interrogation report, Park left Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office and returned home around 6:55 the following morning.

“Park did not exercise her right to refuse to make a statement during her questioning,” a source with the prosecutors said.

“With some questions, she actively expressed her own opinions, while in other cases she gave short and simple answers,” the source added.

Prosecutors focused their questions on charges that Park used the Blue House, Ministry of Health and Welfare, and other agencies to facilitate the transfer of management rights to Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, receiving bribes in return through Choi Sun-sil and the Mir and K-Sports Foundations. They also questioned her on charges that she collaborated with Choi to set up the two foundations and extort tens of billions of won in funding from 53 companies, and ordered the leaking of Blue House documents. Allegations that Park ordered the drafting of a cultural blacklist at the request of a former high school teacher of hers were reportedly included in the questioning as well.

Park vehemently denied most of the charges, sources said. Responding to the bribery charges, she reportedly said she had been unaware of Samsung providing Choi and her family with equestrian training support. On the two foundations‘ establishment, she reportedly said that none of the companies had been coerced into providing funding and that she was unaware Choi was even involved.

Former President Park Geun-hye leaves Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office after being questioned

Prosecutors plan to make an immediate decision on whether to make an arrest warrant request after reviewing the examination findings. Prosecutor General Kim Soo-nam appears likely to make the final decision within this week after hearing the investigation team’s opinion.

Many among and around the Prosecutors say Park‘s detention appears inevitable, with Choi, Lee, and former Blue House Senior Secretary to the President for Policy Coordination Ahn Jong-beom all under detention already for their roles in the crimes. Son Beom-gyu, one of Park’s attorneys, said in a Mar. 21 interview with YTN that the team was “preparing for an arrest warrant request by Prosecutors” but would “work so that does not happen.”

Park left her home in Seoul’s Gangnam district at around 9:15 am on Mar. 21 and arrived at the front entrance of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office building in the Seocho district at around 9:23. She delivered a brief statement in front of the building, saying she felt “regretful to the public” and would “face the examination sincerely.”

Park declared a war on corruption at a Cabinet meeting on Mar. 17, 2015, stressing the need for “resolute measures against the deep-seated corruption and improprieties that have built up in various areas of our society.” A mere two years later, she appeared in the Prosecutors‘ photo line as the central figure in her own allegations of corruption and improprieties.

By Choi Hyun-june, Seo Young-ji and Kim Jeong-pil, staff reporters

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