S. Korea’s Park to attend court session on possible arrest

The court is expected to make a decision late Thursday or early Friday.

Prosecutors requested an arrest warrant for Park on Monday, six days after they grilled her over suspicions that she colluded with a jailed confidante to take money from companies and allowed the friend to secretly interfere with state affairs.

Park has apologized for putting trust in her friend, Choi (pronounced CHWEY) Soon-sil, but has denied any legal wrongdoing.

Park’s decision to attend the questioning session is apparently based on hope that her presence in court would help strengthen her stance that she shouldn’t be arrested. If Park had refused to attend the session, the court would have made the decision on her arrest based on documents provided by prosecutors and Park’s lawyers. Park’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Park’s powers were suspended in December after lawmakers passed an impeachment motion against her following weeks of protests by millions of people. A court formally removed her from office earlier this month, triggering a new presidential election set for May 9.

Prosecutors believe Park has committed a broad range of crimes, including extortion, bribery, abuse of power and leaking government secrets. They have arrested a slew of government officials, presidential aides and businessmen, including Samsung de facto chief Lee Jae-yong, over the past several months before bringing the investigation to Park.

Park is suspected of conspiring with Choi to pressure 16 business groups, including Samsung, to donate 77.4 billion won ($69 million) to two nonprofits that Choi controlled and used for personal benefit. Prosecutors said the companies couldn’t refuse because they feared business disadvantages such as tax investigations.

Lee is suspected of using tens of millions of dollars in corporate funds to bribe Choi to obtain government support for a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015 that promoted a father-to-son transfer of leadership and corporate wealth at the group. Prosecutors believe the money Samsung gave Choi could qualify as bribes provided to Park.

A bribery conviction alone could be punishable by a prison term of more than 10 years and possibly a life sentence, although prosecutors must clearly prove that Park and Choi were connected economically, legal experts say.

Kim Tong-Hyung, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

S. Korea’s Park to attend court session on possible arrest

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