Special counsel team to toss case to prosecution
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Lawmakers stage a protest in the National Assembly building on Yeouido, Seoul, Friday, demanding the extension of the independent counsel team’s investigation of the corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil. / Yonhap
By Chung Hyun-chae
The prosecution is set to take over the independent counsel team’s investigation of the corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil, if the team’s investigation is not extended.
The mandate for the independent counsel team led by special prosecutor Park Young-soo which began Dec. 21 will expire on Feb. 28.
Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has remained quiet since the team asked him for an extension, Feb. 16.
The opposition parties at the National Assembly attempted to press Hwang to approve the request, but failed to table a bill in a plenary session, Thursday.
“We expect the prosecution to investigate the remaining allegations,” Lee Kyu-chul, spokesman for Prosecutor Park, said during a press briefing, Thursday.
The change will not affect the fate of President Park whose impeachment is currently being weighed in the Constitutional Court.
Whoever investigates her must wait for the Constitutional Court’s decision. By law, she may not be criminally charged for her role in the scandal while still holding office.
The prosecution will have to summon Park, but all attempts by the special prosecutor’s team have failed so far. The team said they will keep trying until Feb. 28.
One good thing with the handover is that there will be no deadline for the prosecutors’ investigation.
Speaking with the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times, an anonymous prosecutor vowed to be thorough.
“We’ll inherit a relentless spirit from the special counsel team which successfully made the President a suspect,” he said. “Some worry it will be difficult to be tough on the President because she is the ultimate boss. But that’s an old story. We are confident and independent enough to look into her corruption case fairly and objectively.”
Besides the President, ongoing investigations are looking into suspects at Samsung and other conglomerates, as well as former presidential secretary Woo Byung-woo. The prosecution also hopes to question Chung Yoo-ra, Choi’s daughter who is in the custody of Danish authorities. The prosecution can also pick up the investigation of President Park’s whereabouts on the day of the Sewol ferry disaster on April 16, 2014.
The prosecution doesn’t have to start off the investigation right away. Some even project that the prosecution will delay the investigation after the impeachment decision which is expected on March 12 or 13.
The counsel team is expected to announce the results of its 70-day investigation early next month, probably on March 3 or 6.
“We’ll reveal how Choi Soon-sil accumulated her wealth over decades and how to return it to the government,” Lee said on Friday during a press conference.