[Newsmaker] Prosecution to question Park over NIS fund scandal

Prosecutors will question former President Park Geun-hye this week in a detention center as part of their investigation into allegations that the presidential office during her term had received illicit money from the spy agency.

Four officials from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office will visit the detention center on Tuesday to interrogate the ousted chief executive over suspicions that the National Intelligence Service had offered her office a total of 4 billion won ($3.7 million) between 2013 and mid-2016.

The move comes as Park has rejected the prosecution's summons, citing health conditions.

This photo, taken on Oct. 16, 2017, shows former President Park Geun-hye entering a Seoul court for her corruption trial. (Yonhap)

Investigators plan to ask the former leader where her office spent the money and for what purpose.

They are also expect to question Park over the suspicions that the then presidential office pressured local conglomerates to offer financial support for conservative protesters that staged demonstrations in favor of her government.

It remains unclear whether Park would respond to the prosecution's questions, as she has dismissed the investigations as the "political retribution in the name of the rule of law." (Yonhap)