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Xinhua News Agency, Seoul, October 13 South KoreaSouth Korea’s Supreme Court decided on Friday to extend the detention of impeached President Park Geun-hye, who is currently being detained and tried on corruption charges including bribery.
The Seoul Central District Court reissued an arrest warrant for Park Geun-hye, allowing the former leader to be detained for up to another six months.
Park was detained in late March after the Constitutional Court approved her impeachment over a corruption scandal involving her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil.
The original arrest warrant was due to expire next Monday. Under local law, the suspect can be detained for up to six months.
Local media quoted the court as saying that the extension of detention was justified and necessary because of “concerns about the destruction of evidence.”
Prosecutors extended the detention by claiming that if Park was tried without detention, she would not appear in court due to health problems or to prepare a defense.
Park Geun-hye has missed court hearings several times, citing health problems such as toe pain.
Park’s lawyers also requested that several witnesses appear in court, sparking criticism that Park was deliberately delaying the hearing so that she could be tried without detention.
According to the new arrest warrant, Park Geun-hye could be arrested as early as April next year, but prosecutors reportedly plan to complete the questioning of witnesses in court by the end of next month.
To expedite the completion of testimony, the court is holding hearings three to four times a week.
Local media speculated that the first-instance judgment in the case would be made before the end of this year.
The additional arrest warrant was issued on charges of accepting bribes from SK Group and Lotte Group, South Korea’s third- and fifth-largest family-owned conglomerates.
South Korea’s first female leader became the first president to be impeached before the end of her five-year term.
Park was accused of accepting bribes from Samsung Group, South Korea’s largest family-controlled conglomerate, whose heir Lee Jae-yong was sentenced to five years in prison in August for bribery.
Samsung is suspected of providing illegal funding for the equestrian training of the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, Park Geun-hye’s decades-long friend, and for a German company owned by Choi Soon-sil.
Samsung and other conglomerates are suspected of making illegal donations to foundations controlled by Choi Soon-sil in exchange for business benefits.
Samsung is said to have made the largest donations to the two nonprofit foundations in return for Park Geun-hye’s government’s help in helping Lee Kun-hee inherit management control of the Samsung Group after his father, Lee Kun-hee, was hospitalized for about three and a half years due to a heart attack.
There were mixed reactions to Park Geun-hye’s extended detention. The ruling Democratic Party said the extension of her detention was a reflection of upholding the rule of law and principles.
The centrist People’s Party and the smaller conservative Justice Party said they respected the court’s decision, while the smaller progressive Justice Party said it was an inevitable outcome.
However, South Korea’s main opposition Liberty Korea Party objected to the decision, saying the court succumbed to pressure from the political arena.
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