Expelled president Park Geun-hye expresses gratitude toward her supporters after being released from a marathon investigation by state prosecutors outside her home in southern Seoul on Wednesday morning. [Yonhap Photo]
South Korea's ousted president Park Geun-hye was released Wednesday from a marathon investigation overnight by state prosecutors for her role in a corruption scandal that sparked months of political turmoil.
The interrogation ended shortly before midnight but it took nearly seven hours for Park to have a meticulous double-check of what he testified before investigators.
Park made no comment as she left the office of prosecutors after being grilled for more than 21 hours. Outside a police security zone, dozens of flag-waving supporters chanted her name. She smiled and waved to some supporters when she arrived at her home in southern Seoul.
As a criminal suspect, she was questioned for bribery, abuse of power, coercion, leak of state secrets and other allegations. She is suspected of helping her jailed crony, Choi Soon-sil, to collect money from top business groups in return for business favors.
The investigation began nine days after the disgraced ex-president was expelled from office. Park, who took office in early 2013, was impeached by parliament on December 9 at the height of anti-government protests. The constitutional court upheld her impeachment on March 10, accusing her of betraying the confidence of voters. The verdict set the stage for a presidential election in May.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
