'Park's arrest up to law and principle'

Former President Park Geun-hye exits the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Wednesday, after more than 21 hours of questioning and reviewing statements on criminal charges made against her, including bribery. / Korea Times photos by Ko Young-kwon

Former president returns home after more than 21 hours of questioning

By Jung Min-ho

The prosecution will decide on whether to seek an arrest warrant for former President Park Geun-hye in accordance with the “law and principle,” according to investigators, Wednesday.

Park returned to her home in Samseong-dong in southern Seoul early Wednesday, after spending more than 21 hours at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.

The questioning by two senior prosecutors — Han Woong-jae and Lee Won-seok — about her alleged involvement in the massive corruption scandal ended at around 11:40 p.m. Tuesday, but it took more than seven hours for Park to review her statements in investigation documents.

Emerging from the prosecutors’ office at around 6:55 a.m., she declined to reply to questions from reporters.

The prosecution is expected to decide on the warrant as early as this weekend.

Asked about this, an official from the special prosecution unit said, “Nothing has been decided. We will closely look into what’s been investigated and decide in accordance with the law and principle.”

He said the prosecution has no immediate plan to resummon Park.

Given the severity of the case, Prosecutor General Kim Soo-nam is expected to make the final call on whether to seek a warrant.

During questioning, the prosecutors focused on the money Park and her friend Choi Soon-sil allegedly received from major companies through two foundations controlled by Choi. Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong has already been indicted on charges of giving them 43.3 billion won ($39 million) in bribes.

Park is said to have denied most of the 13 charges made against her, including the accusation that she abused her power or made “backdoor deals” with high-profile business leaders to collect money.

After the interrogation, Son Bum-kyu, one of her lawyers, showed his satisfaction on how it went.

Speaking to reporters, he said, “The truth has finally started to emerge after malicious, emotional and exaggerated reports about the scandal.”

The lawyer also praised prosecutors for “working hard to reveal the truth,” saying they were different from Park Young-soo, the much-lauded independent counsel who indicted 30 people over the scandal.

But with strong evidence of Park’s wrongdoings, including former presidential secretary An Chong-bum’s notebook and audio files of her phone conversations with former presidential secretary Jeong Ho-seong, prosecutors will unlikely accept her denials.

According to Kim Kyung-jin, a prosecutor-turned-lawmaker of the People’s Party, she in fact gave prosecutors a clear reason to arrest her by denying most of the allegations.

“By denying the allegations, she exposed the risk of destruction of evidence to prosecutors,” he said during a CBS radio program. “The facts haven’t changed. Her alleged crimes are serious and there is a risk that she may destroy evidence or flee, which are the conditions for issuing an arrest warrant.”

Kang Shin-up, a lawyer and PR executive at the Korean Bar Association, also said prosecutors will have no choice but to request a warrant possibly this week or early next week.

Park is accused of 13 alleged crimes, including bribery, abuse of power and passing on state secrets to an unauthorized individual, Choi.

The decision over whether to arrest her is expected to affect the fate of Prosecutor General Kim, who was appointed by Park in 2015, and the future of the prosecution.

Prosecutors were criticized for “being too political and slow” in investigating the scandal, and all major presidential hopefuls have vowed to reform the organization to win the hearts and minds of voters.

Park’s abuse of power was already acknowledged by the Constitutional Court in its ruling to uphold her impeachment earlier this month.

But the court did not specify the nature of the money private companies gave to the Choi-controlled foundations. While the companies claim they were coerced by Park into making “donations,” prosecutors believe the money was part of “deals” with Park and Choi.