Graft case awaits ousted leader

SEOUL: South Korean prosecutors will summon ousted president Park Geun-hye for questioning as a suspect in a corruption case that led to her impeachment, a prosecution official said yesterday, amid a political crisis that has gripped the country for months.

The prosecutor’s office would notify Park today when she would be summoned and would not negotiate on the timing, said the official.

The Constitutional Court dismissed Park from office on Friday when it upheld a parliamentary impeachment vote over an influence-peddling scandal that has shaken the political and business elite. Park has denied any wrongdoing. She became the country’s first democratically elected president to be removed from office.

Park left the presidential palace in Seoul on Sunday, stripped of her presidential immunity.

A special prosecution team had earlier accused Park of colluding with a friend, Choi Soon-sil, to pressure big businesses into contributing to foundations set up to support her policy and allowing her to exert influence on state affairs.