The ex-president of South Korea has been arrested: for the antics of her friend she faces “a dozen. Former Korean President Lee Myung-bak apologizes to people

On the morning of March 14, former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak appeared for questioning at the prosecutor's office. He and other crimes. Lee himself had already declared his innocence, but on the eve of the interrogation he apologized to the people of Korea.

Various rumors about possible violations of Lee Myung-bak in Korea have been circulating for a long time, even during his presidency they tried to conduct an investigation, but it took more than five years and a change in the ruling camp for Lee Myung-bak to end up as a suspect. As a result, after preliminary interrogations and arrests of a number of Li's former aides, they reached the ex-president himself.

Finally, 76-year-old Lee Myung-bak traveled to the Korean Prosecutor General's Office building in the Seochodong District in southern Seoul. Although interrogations and arrests of ex-presidents are almost commonplace for South Korea, great attention is still riveted on this event. Before entering the prosecutor's office, Lee stopped in front of about 600 Korean and foreign reporters who were waiting for him and, as expected, made a statement. Lee has apologized to the people of Korea for all the hype and related scandal. At the same time, he made it clear that he does not consider himself guilty of anything, promising to fully answer all the questions of the investigators. Lee also said he hoped it would end South Korea's political tradition of summoning former leaders for interrogation. Then Lee proceeded to the prosecutor's office, not answering the questions of the journalists who surrounded him, saying only to them: "Beware, the steps are dangerous here."

Lee is the fifth president in the history of the Republic of Korea to be investigated by prosecutors and suspected of criminal offenses. Prior to that, a similar fate befell four more ex-presidents of Korea: Jung Doo Hwan, Ro Dae Woo, No Moo Hyun and Park Geun Hye. Note that all those still summoned for interrogation either received prison sentences (Jung Doo Hwan and Ro Dae Woo), or committed suicide (No Moo Hyun), or pre-trial detention (Park Geun Hye).

As for Lee Myung-bak, he could be charged with a total of two dozen counts, including corruption of 11 billion won (over $ 10 million), the formation of illegal funds (about 30 billion won), abuse of power, violation of the electoral law, tax evasion and others.

Li himself is confident that a campaign of political vendetta has been launched against him by the supporters of the late Roh Moo-hyun, who now, led by President Moon Jae-in, run the country. As it became known, during the morning part of the interrogation, which lasted almost three and a half times, Lee Myung-bak completely denied any accusations against him, declaring his innocence.

According to an earlier statement, the General Prosecutor's Office of Korea took into account the special status of the suspect and is interrogating in a special room No. 1001, where ex-President Park Geun-hye was also interrogated a year earlier. According to rumors, the investigators do not intend to turn Lee Myung-bak's interrogation into a repeated "serial", but will try to limit themselves to this challenge. Therefore, the importance of this interrogation is especially great. Most likely after him it will be decided whether the prosecutor's office will ask the court for an arrest warrant for Lee Myung-bak. With all this in mind, Lee is expected to be interrogated for a very long time. It is possible that the interrogation will last about a day, but at the same time a special room No. 1002 is provided for Lee, where he can rest and eat. He is prohibited from leaving the prosecutor's office until the end of the interrogation, but he can order any food of his choice.

In Seoul, an arrest warrant has been issued for former South Korean President Park Geun-hye. Earlier, the prosecutor's office applied to the court with such a request due to the presence of sufficient evidence of Pak's guilt for exceeding his powers. Experts agree with the decision to take into custody the former leader and point to the ability of Pak to influence the course of investigative actions.

In South Korea, the former president of the country, Park Geun-hye, was arrested. On March 27, the Prosecutor General's Office of the country applied to the court to issue a warrant. The petition was substantiated by the presence of a sufficient amount of evidence of Pak's guilt in exceeding official powers, taking bribes and transferring classified information to an unauthorized person. The GP also argued that the arrest would exclude the possibility of the destruction of evidence. On March 31, a court in Seoul, after a nine-hour hearing, issued an arrest warrant for the former South Korean leader.

“It is clear that this is an extraordinary question, after all, the president who has recently been deprived of power is being arrested. Therefore, everything was thoroughly weighed and discussed there. It took such a long time to make such a dramatic decision, ”explained Alexander Vorontsov, head of the Korea and Mongolia Department of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The court recognized the need to arrest Pak for 20 days (according to the law, the term of the warrant is exactly this), since it found sufficient grounds for the charge and recognized the danger of destruction of evidence. “If the court found grounds, then they were. Of course, she has ample opportunities. Even if she is not officially the president, she has a wide circle of influential supporters, ”the source of the“ Profile ”noted.

At the beginning of the week, when the prosecutor's office had just sent a request for an arrest warrant to the court, Yevgeny Kim, a leading researcher at the Center for Korean Studies at the Institute of the Far East, called such measures unnecessary. At the same time, Kim linked the actions against Park with the attempts of certain people (who suffered during the reign of her father Park Chung Hee) to finally discredit the whole family.

“On the one hand, of course, there is always a struggle for power, there was and will be, and in this struggle various methods and situations are used. But, on the other hand, her guilt is obvious, ”Vorontsov stressed. According to him, most members of South Korean society feel offended that their president has shared state secrets with people who do not have access to state secrets. We are talking about Choi Sun Sil, a friend of the president, who took a direct active part in solving the fateful tasks for the country and became the cause of a huge corruption scandal. "The Koreans say:" We voted for Park Geun-hye, but not for Choi Sun Sil. Who is Choi, and why does she play any role in the fate of our nation? "

The scandal surrounding the ousted South Korean President Park Geun-hye erupted in October 2016, when it became known about the access of the country's leader Choi Sung Sil's girlfriend to state secrets and influence on the president in political decision-making. In addition, it was found that Choi, hiding behind the name of Park, put pressure on some large South Korean companies in order for them to transfer tens of millions of dollars to funds controlled by her.

On December 9, 2016, the South Korean parliament voted to impeach Park Geun-hye. On March 10, 2017, the decision to impeach was approved by the Constitutional Court. Shortly thereafter, the prosecutor's office initiated an investigation into the former president. The ex-president herself denies guilt. Her friend Choi is now also under arrest.

The country's prosecutor's office has asked the court to issue a warrant for the detention of Park Geun-hye in connection with a corruption case against her. Prosecutors cited the seriousness of the crimes and said they were concerned that Pak might destroy evidence. The court considered the arguments reasonable and granted the request.

During 14 hours of interrogation last week, Pak denied charges of bribery, abuse of power, use of force and leaking government secrets against her.

Park, 65, was held at the Seoul Central District Court for a nine-hour arrest warrant hearing, but declined to comment.

She became the third president of South Korea to be arrested. The previous two were former army generals who held the highest office in the country both before and after South Korea's transition to democracy in 1987.

A television broadcast outside the courthouse captured crowds of Park Geun-hye supporters calling for her release. About 2,000 police officers were present on the spot in the event of clashes between Pak supporters and those who called for her impeachment and arrest.

Park lost her immunity from prosecution on March 10 when she was removed from office by the South Korean Constitutional Court after being judged to have repeatedly violated the law. Prosecutors counted 13 charges that could be brought against her, including bribery, abuse of power and leakage of confidential information.

“A lot of evidence has been collected so far, but since the suspect denies most of the criminal charges against her, there is a possibility that she will want to destroy the evidence,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement released Monday.

The scandal was caused by Park's relationship with her longtime friend Choi Sun Sil.

Park was known as a reclusive president. Her former chief of staff noted that he spent weeks without seeing her, and some of her own ministers said they never met her in person. However, Park Geun-hye secretly relied on Choi, who had no political experience and no permission to access classified information.

Choi Sung Sil is accused of receiving a total of $ 70 million from large enterprises in exchange for a promise that they will receive the favor of the Pak government. Prosecutors say Park Geun-hye knew about the scheme and was involved in it.

Choi is now on trial, as is Lee Jae Young, the de facto head of Samsung, who allegedly gave or promised to transfer about $ 37 million to Choi Sung Sil. keep control of the huge conglomerate.

Choi and Lee also deny any wrongdoing on their part.

Already in May, the country should hold elections for a new leader, but who can become one is still unclear

The corruption scandal in the Republic of Korea continues to gain traction. At the end of the week, it became known that the former head of state, Pak Geun-hye, was taken into custody. Back on March 27, the South Korean prosecutor's office went to court for an arrest warrant for the ex-president. After a nine-hour hearing in Seoul, the request was granted. Now Park Geun-hye, whose impeachment was approved on March 10 (which deprived her of her immunity), faces up to 10 years in prison.

Recall that the reason for the impeachment was the scandal involving Park Geun-hye and her close friend Choi Sun Sil. The latter, according to the investigators, using friendship with the president, extorted large sums from various companies. In addition, it is known that Ms. Park regularly consulted with her friend about state affairs and even asked her for help in writing her speeches.

The impeachment was supported by the majority of South Korean parliamentarians back in December last year. After the vote, the decision was sent to the Constitutional Court of the country. It took the judges three months to approve it. The unanimous (all eight judges were in favor of impeachment) verdict of the Constitutional Court deprived Park Geun-hye of immunity, giving investigators the right to summon her for interrogation and even arrest, which has now happened.

Despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of South Koreans - about 80% - condemn the president's actions and support prosecution, Park Geun-hye also has supporters.

In early March, following the announcement of the Constitutional Court's verdict, mass demonstrations took place in Seoul (both for and against the judgment), during which at least two people were killed.

In this regard, during the hearings on the possible arrest of Park Geun-hye, the police mobilized over two thousand officers to ensure security in the South Korean capital. Fortunately, judging by the data of the South Korean media, the speeches of both supporters and opponents of the ex-president did without casualties.

The arrest of Park Geun-hye, however, is now not the main problem for South Korea. According to the law, no later than May 9, elections of a new president are to be held in the country. But it is still difficult to identify the potential favorite of the future voting. According to polls, the strongest positions are held by the former leader of the Democratic Party of the country, Moon Jae In - but only about 30% of citizens are ready to vote for him. Until May, Prime Minister Hwang Ge An will serve as the president. If he decides to participate in the elections, he will have to leave his post, and acting. the president will be the deputy prime minister. But, according to the polls, Mr. Khwan's chances are slim - about 14% of the country's residents are ready to vote for him.

REFERENCE "MK"

In office since February 2013, Park Geun-hye is the first female president in South Korea. Ironically, she also became the country's first democratically elected leader to be removed from power. As you know, in 2004, President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached: he was accused of corruption and of supporting the pro-government party on the eve of elections. However, the Constitutional Court then rejected the decision of the parliamentarians.

Last night, the court issued a warrant for her arrest. It will be valid for 20 days. During this time, as expected, the ex-head of state will be formally charged.

Park Geun-hye - in the back of a car, between two prosecutors. She was taken to the remand prison at 5:30 in the morning. For 9 hours she waited for the verdict of the district court, which granted the request of the investigation to arrest the ex-president until the investigation was completed.

Park Geun-hye ended up behind bars exactly three weeks after she was officially dismissed from her post as head of South Korea by a decision of the Constitutional Court. During this time, the former leader of the country never spoke either with journalists or with her supporters. But she had to talk to the investigators for a long time. First interrogation.

The prosecutor's office is going to bring at least 13 charges. They are associated with disregard for the powers of the president, violation of state secrets and complicity in corruption schemes. Investigators requested due to fears that by staying free, Park Geun-hye might hide the evidence.

The rapid replacement of the presidential chair with the dock is a continuation of the multi-part scandal that erupted in the fall. Then the president's girlfriend was arrested. Journalists called Ms. Choi Song Xil "Rasputin in a skirt." Without holding any official posts, she had access to secret documents, rules for presidential speeches, but the main charge was extorting tens of millions of dollars from major South Korean companies under the guise of financing nongovernmental funds, which she also managed, and spent the received sums on personal family needs.

According to the prosecutor's office, the president not only knew about these machinations, but also provided assistance to them. The political crisis was accompanied by mass rallies in the streets. Seoul residents came to the presidential palace and demanded to leave voluntarily. But Park Geun Hye didn't give up. Last December, an overwhelming majority of MPs, including her party associates, voted to impeach.

Having lost her powers, Park Geun-hye formally remained president and retained immunity from criminal prosecution. But three weeks ago, the decision of the Constitutional Court removed all obstacles.

During her presidency, Park Geun-hye had at least two historic achievements - four years ago she became the first female leader of South Korea, and in March of this year - the first South Korean leader, as a result of impeachment.

But as a former leader on trial for corruption, she is far from being the first in South Korea. In the nineties, ex-President Jung Doo Hwan was sentenced to death with a change to life in prison, and his successor, Ro Dae Woo, was sentenced to 17 years in prison. Both were released under an amnesty, without serving their terms. And in this sense, there is a possibility that the list of historical achievements of Park Geun-hye is not yet complete.