Prosecutors bid to question Park
> Conglomerate bosses quizzed in scandal probe
SEOUL: South Korean prosecutors are seeking to question President Park Geunhye this week over a political scandal which has engulfed her presidency, Yonhap reported yesterday.
Prosecutors are investigating whether Park exerted improper pressure on “chaebol” conglomerate bosses to raise funds for two foundations at the centre of an influence-peddling scandal involving a friend of hers.
Prosecutors have already questioned the chairmen of Hyundai Motor and Korean Air Lines and plan to question the de factor head of Samsung Group and other conglomerate chiefs over the political scandal, media reports said yesterday.
Hundreds of thousands marched in the capital Seoul on Saturday demanding her resignation.
The rally was the largest so far in a crisis engulfing Park, 64, and organisers said some 850,000 people packed streets running through the city centre including a 12-lane thoroughfare.
Police estimated the crowd at 260,000.
Students, families including young couples pushing strollers and protesters in wheelchairs were among the crowd during the largely peaceful march, which contrasted with the violence of some previous rallies dominated by militant unions and civic groups that clashed with police.
One man travelled seven hours from the southern town of Gimhae to join the rally demanding Park step down a year before her mandate is due to end.
“Park Geun-hye! Today! Step down! Immediately! Step down! Now!” protesters chanted a few hundred metres from the presidential Blue House.
“I’m here so that this country will be a better place for my daughters,” said Park Min-hee, 34, a housewife who was at the rally with her two young daughters and her husband’s parents.
“Park Geun-hye did wrong. She must step down right now.”
Members of main opposition parties joined Saturday’s rally, suggesting there is growing support in parliament for action to remove her from power, although there was no formal move yet to launch impeachment proceedings.
No South Korean president has ever failed to finish their five-year term. – Reuters