South Korea prosecutors seek to arrest former president News
South Korea prosecutors seek to arrest former president

[JURIST] The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ office [official website] announced on Monday that it is seeking a warrant for the arrest of former president Park Geun-hye [BBC profile] on criminal charges of bribery and abuse of power. The prosecutors asked the Seoul Central District Court [official website, in Korean] for a warrant after interrogating Park for several hours last week [JURIST report]. Prosecutors are still discussing [NYT report] whether the interrogation yielded enough evidence to obtain the warrant. The courts deliberation on whether or not a warrant is proper is expected to take several days. If Park is arrested, she will be the first former president to be arrested in two decades. Park continues to deny any legal wrong doing.

This is the latest development in a scandal that has grown to encompass numerous South Korean political and corporate leaders. Earlier this month South Korea’s Constitutional Court upheld parliament’s decision to impeach [JURIST report] Park over a scandal related to government bribes paid by Samsung. In February Samsung’s head Lee Jae-yong was arrested [JURIST report] on charges of bribery and undue influence in connection with the scandal. Five Samsung executives denied charges [JURIST report] of bribery, embezzlement and corruption that were leveled against them in connection with Park. Park may also be subject to charges that may relate to the indictment [JURIST report] of former culture minister Cho Yoon-sun and former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon over the coercion, abuse of power and perjury due to suppression of artists involved with the impeachment process.