South Korean President Park Geun-hye's longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil, who is suspected of peddling influence and intervening in state affairs behind the scenes, was grilled by prosecutors for a third day on Wednesday, after being placed under an emergency arrest on Monday night.
Prosecutors on Wednesday requested a warrant to formally detain Choi, who the prosecution said has been denying all of her alleged charges that include her illicit access to confidential presidential reports and her pressure on conglomerates into donating tens of millions of U.S. dollars to two nonprofit foundations.
An Jong-beom, former presidential secretary on policy coordination who stepped down on Sunday, appeared in the prosecutors' office earlier in the day, telling reporters that he will take responsibility for any wrongdoing if it is confirmed.
An has been suspected of being deeply involved in the fundraising of Mir and K-Sports foundations presumably controlled by Choi. He has denied his involvement, but multiple people engaging in the donations have told prosecutors and media outlets that An has played a role in the fundraising.
Prosecutors allegedly sought a detention warrant for Choi on charge of forcing chaebols to make contributions to the cultural and sports funds with the help of the former presidential secretary, who Choi claimed she had never met before.
Choi could be detained as long as three weeks with the arrest warrant, the validity of which is set to be determined in a court on Thursday.
During the detention period, prosecutors are expected to probe into other alleged charges, including her illicit intervention in government affairs and her pressure on a prestigious university to get her daughter granted special treatment.
Calls are increasingly fiercer in the political arena for a criminal investigation into President Park herself on suspicion that Choi's influence could not happen without the president's protection and connivance.
Under the country's constitution, a president is freed from a criminal indictment during his or her presidency, but some law experts claim that criminal investigation is possible on condition that prosecution is suspended by the end of presidency.
Some of ruling Saenuri Party lawmakers told an emergency party meeting that President Park should voluntarily show her intention to be investigated by prosecutors. Others called on Park to drop her party affiliation. Scores of non-Park faction members within the governing party demanded all of the leadership resign voluntarily.
The president's approval rating dropped to the lowest of 9.2 percent during her four years in power. It was down 25 percentage points compared with the previous month, according to a Naeil Shinmun newspaper survey unveiled on Tuesday.
