SEOUL: South Korea’s ousted president Park Geun-Hye was grilled for nearly nine hours in court Thursday as a judge deliberated whether she should be arrested over the corruption and abuse of power scandal that brought her down.
Looking grim-faced and pale, Park ignored a barrage of press flashbulbs and did not speak when she arrived at the Seoul Central District Court, nor when she left.
She was taken to a prosecutor’s office to await the judge’s decision, which was not expected until late into the night.
Being taken into custody would be a dramatic step in the disgrace of South Korea’s first woman president, and is a key demand of the millions of people who took to the streets to protest against her as the scandal engulfed her leadership last year.
The former president, who was stripped of her immunity when she was dismissed from office by the country’s top court earlier this month, is accused of multiple offences including bribery, leaking government information, and abuse of power. Park has denied the accusations.
Choi Soon-Sil, Park’s secret confidante at the heart of the scandal, is already on trial for forcing top local firms including tech giant Samsung to “donate” nearly $70 million (Dh2.57 billion) to non-profit foundations which she allegedly used for personal gain.
Park, 65, was driven to the courthouse from her home in southern Seoul past hundreds of flag-waving, screaming supporters lining the narrow street.
Some tried to break through police barricades in an effort to stop the passage of her four-car convoy, which was broadcast live on television.
Ahead of the hearing, prosecutors submitted around 120,000 pages of documents to the Seoul Central District Court in relation to the charges against Park, and said it would be “counter to the principle of fairness” if she was not arrested.
“The accused is denying most of the charges, and there is a risk of destroying evidence in the future,” they said.
If the warrant is granted Park will be formally detained and taken to a detention centre south of the capital, becoming the third former leader to be arrested over corruption in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, where politics and big business have long been closely tied.
Samsung Electronics vice-chairman Lee Jae-Yong, who was arrested last month in connection to the scandal, was in court for over seven hours for his hearing, and his detention was approved early the following day.
Opposition lawmakers called for Park’s arrest.
“The least she can do as the ex-president who damaged national dignity is to admit her criminal acts, bow her head and seek forgiveness,” said a spokesman for the main opposition Democratic Party.
An election to choose her successor will be held on May 9. Moon Jae-In, her rival in 2012 and a former Democratic Party leader leads opinion polls by large margins.
Park, daughter of late dictator Park Chung-Hee, secured the largest vote share of any candidate in the democratic era when she was elected in 2012.
But she was impeached by parliament in December, as the scandal combined with mounting economic and social frustrations to trigger huge candlelit demonstrations. The Constitutional Court later upheld the decision.
Last week she underwent a 21-hour interrogation session at the prosecutors’ office, having refused repeated requests to be interviewed while in power.
Then, prosecutors addressed her as “Madam President” but Kang was to call her the “suspect”.
She had been “lost for words” when authorities asked for her arrest, the Chosun Ilbo daily quoted an unidentified pro-Park lawmaker as saying.
Another said she had been having “sleepless nights and skipping meals” since moving out of the presidential palace.
Park allegedly offered governmental favours to top businessmen who enriched Choi, including Samsung’s Lee.
She is also accused of letting her friend, a high school graduate with no title or security clearance, handle a wide range of state affairs including nomination of top officials.
Park is also said to have cracked down on thousands of artists who had voiced criticisms of her or her father’s iron-fisted rule from 1961 to 1979.
She has repeatedly apologised for the upset caused by the scandal but not admitted any wrongdoing, blaming Choi for abusing their friendship.
