박근혜, 파면 21일만에 구속
Korea woke up this morning to news that former president Park Geun-hye is now under arrest.
The Seoul Central District Court announced its ruling in the middle of the night,… slightly after THREE AM, Korea time…. some seven hours ago.
She’s been detained at a facility south of Seoul on a slew of charges including bribery, abuse of power, coercion and leaking government secrets.
Delivering his ruling,… the judge expressed concern she could attempt destroy evidence.
If she’s found guilty of the charges, she could spend most of her twilight years behind bars in a tiny cell.
Our Hwang Hojun starts us off.
From being the first female leader of South Korea,.. to becoming a pre-trial detainee…. it was a rapid fall from grace.
Former President Park Geun-hye was arrested in the predawn hours of Friday morning as the Seoul Central District Court granted the state prosecutors’ warrant request,… just 21 days after her impeachment.
She’s now the country’s third former president to be arrested on criminal charges, following Roh Tae-woo and Chun Doo-hwan.
Park, who went through a nearly nine-hour-warrant hearing, and waited another eight hours at the nearby Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office during the judge’s deliberation, left to her next destination at around 4:30 a.m,.. The Seoul Detention Center.
The judge explained his decision in a statement that quote “The grounds and necessity for Park’s arrest are acknowledged, and there’s a concern over the destruction of evidence.”
There are 13 charges against Park, the most among the two other former presidents arrested in the past.
The charges include,… colluding with her close confidante Choi Soon-sil to extort tens of millions of dollars from conglomerates,… leaking confidential presidential office documents to Choi… and ordering the creation of a blacklist of cultural figures critical of the government.
Many of Park’s alleged accomplices, including Choi and Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong, have already either been arrested or jailed for their suspected involvement in the scandal.
Park had repeatedly refused to be questioned by prosecutors and the independent counsel while she was in office as she had been immune from criminal prosecution.
But she lost that immunity after the Constitutional Court upheld her impeachment motion earlier this month.
Now that the Seoul Central District Court has granted Park’s arrest warrant, prosecutors will have up to 20 days to continue their investigation and formally indict her.
If she’s convicted of receiving bribes,… she could be facing a minimum of ten years in jail.
Hwang Hojun, Arirang News.

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