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S Korean President’s Shadow Adviser Appears Before Prosecutors for Questioning

© AFP 2023 / YonhapChoi Soon-Sil (C) is surrounded by the media as she arrives at the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office in Seoul on October 31, 2016
Choi Soon-Sil (C) is surrounded by the media as she arrives at the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office in Seoul on October 31, 2016 - Sputnik International
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Choi Soon-sil, a long-standing friend and a "shadow adviser" of South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye, appeared before special prosecutors to face interrogation over her alleged involvement in the corruption scandal, local media reported Saturday.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — Choi has been charged with using her informal connections to the president for her personal benefit and pressuring South Korean corporations to extort money from them for her non-commercial funds. She also reportedly edited texts of presidential speeches and decided for Park who should be appointed for a particular position, or dismissed.

According to the Yonhap news agency, Choi arrived at a special prosecutors’ office in Seoul at around 2 p.m. local time (05:00 GMT) to be questioned by the prosecutors as a suspect in the scandal.

The president’s former adviser refused to answer questions by journalists seeking comments, the agency said.

The investigatory team launched its work on the scandal on December 21.

On December 9, the South Korean parliament voted in favor of starting the process of impeachment against the embattled leader over the "shadow adviser" scandal involving Choi. The decision is now with the country's Constitutional Court. Country's Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has become acting president until the constitutional court approves or rejects his appointment.

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