South Korea’s ousted president Park Geun-Hye was grilled for nearly nine hours in court on Thursday as a judge deliberated whether she should be arrested over the corruption and abuse of power scandal that brought her down.
looking grim-faced and pale, Park ignored a barrage of press flashbulbs and did not speak when she arrived at the Seoul Central District Court, nor when she left.
She was taken to a prosecutor’s office to await the judge’s decision, which was not expected until late into the night.
Being taken into custody would be a dramatic step in the disgrace of South Korea’s first woman president, and is a key demand of the millions of people who took to the streets to protest against her as the scandal engulfed her leadership last year. The former president, who was stripped of her immunity when she was dismissed from office by the country’s top court earlier this month, is accused of multiple offences including bribery, leaking government information, and abuse of power. Park has denied the accusations.