South Korean prosecutors are expected to conclude their investigation into ousted President Park Geun-hye this week, sources said Monday, before the official campaign period for the presidential election begins next week.
Earlier in the day, prosecutors carried out their fourth round of questioning Park at a detention center outside Seoul, where she is incarcerated, over a string of corruption allegations that removed her from office.
Former President Park Geun-hye leaves her home in Seoul for prosecution questioning on March 21, 2017. Park, dismissed by the Constitutional Court on March 10, faces a probe on 13 criminal allegations, including graft and abuse of power. Upon arrival at the prosecution's office, Park said she will comply with the investigation with sincerity. (Yonhap)
The investigation was wrapped up around 9:20 p.m. after more than 12 hours of intense questioning, the longest-running interrogation they have done so far on the former president since she was put behind bars last month.
The investigators are planning to conduct one more interrogation on Wednesday before leveling formal charges against the country's former leader.
Though prosecutors said they cannot confirm if Wednesday's inquiry will be the last, legal experts say it is likely that they will indict Park before next Monday, when the official campaign period for the May 9 election begins.
Park was named an accomplice in her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil's bribery allegations involving South Korea's largest business group Samsung. She is also suspected of colluding with her friend in pressing local conglomerates into donating tens of billions of won to two non-profit foundations allegedly controlled by Choi.
Both Park and Choi have denied the allegations. (Yonhap)
