South Korea prosecutors push to arrest ex-president Park

An arrest is the next step before Park Geun-hye can be formally charged with crimes such as extortion, bribery and abuse of power.

A supporter of former South Korean president Park Geun-hye looking at the photos of Ms Park in front of the wall of her private home in Seoul, South Korea on March 27, 2017 as prosecutors said they were planning to issue a warrant to arrest former president on corruption allegations. Lee Jin-man/ AP PhotoShow less

SEOUL // South Korean prosecutors said Monday they want to arrest former president Park Geun-hye for the corruption allegations that triggered a huge political scandal and toppled her from power.

The move comes after prosecutors interrogated Ms Park for 14 hours last week over suspicions that she colluded with a jailed confidante to extort from companies and committed other wrongdoing when she was in office.

A Seoul prosecutors’ office said in a statement it wants a local court to issue an arrest warrant for Ms Park. The Seoul central district court is expected to ask her to appear at a hearing before deciding on the request.

An arrest is the next step before Ms Park can be formally charged with crimes such as extortion, bribery and abuse of power. A bribery conviction alone is punishable by up to a life sentence in South Korea.

Ms Park has denied any legal wrongdoing.

Even if the court dismisses the request, prosecutors can still indict and charge her. Prosecutors said Ms Park’s alleged crimes were “grave,” and that she should also be arrested because her alleged accomplice, confidante Choi Soon-sil, and other suspects in the scandal have been arrested.

Political analysts have said that arresting Ms Park would boost tensions and create a backlash from her conservative supporters ahead of an election in May to choose her successor.

While in office, Ms Park had presidential immunity from prosecution and had refused to meet with prosecutors.

Prosecutors accuse Ms Park of conspiring with Choi and one of a top presidential adviser to pressure 16 business groups, including Samsung, to donate 77.4 billion won (Dh256m) to two non-profit organisations that Choi controlled and used for personal profit.

The companies said they could not refuse because they feared business disadvantages such as state tax investigations.

Prosecutors believe the money Samsung gave Choi could qualify as bribes provided to Ms Park. Prosecutors also accuse Ms Park of conspiring with Choi and top officials to blacklist artists critical of her polices and deny them state financial support.

Ms Park has apologised for putting trust in Choi, but said she only let her edit some of her presidential speeches and provide the president with some “public relations” help.

The opposition-controlled parliament in December impeached Ms Park over the allegations and suspended her presidential powers and responsibilities before the constitutional court ruled on March 10 to dismiss her for the top post.

Ms Park’s allegations plunged the country into political turmoil, with both her opponents and supporters staging massive street rallies.

* Associated Press