By Kim Bo-eun
The prosecution is facing a challenge in questioning President Park Geun-hye over her alleged involvement in the influence-peddling scandal surrounding her confidant Choi Soon-sil, after Park’s lawyer said Sunday the President will not comply with its demands.
Cheong Wa Dae’s abrupt change of stance came after the prosecution announced the interim results of its investigation into the expanding scandal, in which it stated Park was an accomplice of Choi and her former aides An Chong-bum and Jeong Ho-seong in extorting funds from conglomerates for Choi’s benefit, and providing her confidant with classified state files.
This was the first time for the prosecution to call an incumbent president a criminal suspect. Choi, An and Jeong were indicted Sunday.
Park’s legal representative Yoo Yeong-ha had initially said the President would be questioned this week, but after the prosecution’s announcement, he said, “We cannot accept the slightest part of the statement and will not cooperate with the prosecution over questioning.”
However, the prosecution said there was no change in its stance that the President must be questioned.
“We will once again request her cooperation for face-to-face questioning,” a prosecutor on the special investigation team said Monday. But he acknowledged the challenges, saying, “In reality, it is difficult to forcibly question the President if she refuses.”
The President’s right to refuse questioning is disputed, based on different interpretations of her right to exemption from indictment, which is guaranteed by the Constitution.
The prosecution says although indictment is impossible, investigation is possible. Moreover, with the President now labeled as a suspect, the prosecution holds the right to summon her. Last week, prosecutors sought to question the President as a witness, which her lawyer delayed claiming she needed time to prepare her responses.
Also in principle, when a suspect refuses to be questioned by the prosecution, it holds the right to seek a warrant to detain them.
However, the prosecution seems unlikely to go this far.
“If the prosecution wants to detain the President, they need to provide grounds for why the detention is necessary. But when the President is taken into custody, state affairs will be left in disarray and it will be difficult to prove that detaining her is more important than this,” said lawyer Hur Yoon from law firm Yeyul.
“Besides, it is a court that issues the warrant, and it is unclear whether it will cooperate.”
Meanwhile, others claim the President cannot be questioned, as this is based on the premise of indicting a suspect, which in President Park’s case is impossible.
Meanwhile, an independent counsel is set to begin an investigation into the case in December, following the passage of the related bill by the National Assembly. The President’s lawyer said Park will be willing to be questioned by a “politically neutral” counsel, who has yet to be appointed.