Former leader in jail for graft

SOUTH Korea’s disgraced former President Park Geunhye has been arrested and jailed over the corruption allegations that already ended her tumultuous four-year rule and prompted an election to find a successor.

A convoy of vehicles, including a black sedan carrying Park, entered a detention facility near Seoul before dawn on Friday after the Seoul Central District Court granted a prosecutors’ request to arrest her.

Many Park supporters waved national flags and shouted “president” as Park’s car entered the facility.

An opponent held up a mock congratulatory ribbon with flowers that read “Park Geun-hye, congratulations for entering prison. Come out as a human being after 30 years.”

Prosecutors can detain Park for up to 20 days, during which they are expected to formally charge her and have her jailed during the next several months of court procedures.

A district court in South Korea normally issues a ruling within six months of an indictment.

The detention is yet another humiliation for Park, South Korea’s first female president who was elected in 2012 with overwhelming support from conservatives, who recall her late dictator father as a hero who lifted the country from poverty in the 1960-70s despite a record of severe human rights abuses.

Prosecutors accuse Park of colluding with a confidante to extort big businesses, take a bribe from one of the companies and commit other wrongdoing.

The allegations led millions of South Koreans to protest in the streets every weekend for months before lawmakers impeached her in December and the Constitutional Court ruled in March to formally remove her from office.