(31 Mar 2017) A woman who is at the centre of South Korea's political scandal involving impeached President Park Geun-hye arrived at the Seoul Central District Court on January 13th 2017.
40-year-old Choi Soon-sil, who is a close confidante of Park Geun-hye, is accused of using her relationship with the President for her own financial benefit.
The case has prompted outrage in South Korea and Park was impeached in December 2016 on suspicion of colluding with Choi.
Choi has been held in Seoul Detention Center since October 2016, and is being tried along with one of her aides - former presidential secretary An Chong-bum.
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A South Korean court approved on February 17th the arrest of a billionaire heir to Samsung accused of bribery and other charges in connection to a massive corruption scandal.
The Seoul Central District Court's decision to issue a warrant to arrest Lee Jae-yong, 48, a vice chairman at Samsung Electronics and the only son of Samsung chair Lee Kun-hee, makes him the first leader in Samsung's history to be arrested on criminal charges.
The arrest of the princeling of the country's richest family will likely shock the business community and cheer the critics of chaebol, the South Korean family-controlled business conglomerates that dominate the economy.
It was seen as a test of the country's judicial system that in the past had been lenient toward the powerful business elite families at chaebol for their white collar crimes, citing their contributions to the national economy.
The Seoul court said new criminal suspicion and additional evidence show there were enough reasons to take Lee into custody.
Prosecutors can detain him for up to 20 days before formally indicting him.
The court dismissed prosecutors' request to arrest Park Sang-jin, a president at Samsung Electronics overseeing external relations, saying that it was difficult to justify Park's arrest given his position and role within the company.
Lee avoided arrest in January when the court dismissed the prosecutors' request citing the lack of evidence.
The special prosecution team, probing the influence-peddling scandal that led to the impeachment of the country's president, said they have gathered more evidence to strengthen their case and made a second request.
The 48-year-old was groomed to succeed his father.
He stepped up his leadership role in recent years after the elder Lee fell ill in 2014.
Though the ailing Samsung chair was convicted before, the 75-year-old has never spent time in prison.
Prosecutors accused Lee of giving bribes worth 36 million US dollars to President Park Geun-hye and her close friend Choi Soon-sil to win government favours for a smooth leadership transition.
They are also investigating Lee on allegations of embezzlement of Samsung funds, hiding assets overseas and lying under oath during a parliamentary hearing.
The court's decision will likely embolden the special prosecution team, which has less than two weeks to investigate the scandal, unless the parliament extends the February 28th deadline.
It would also help the team bring bribery charges against President Park Geun-hye whose powers were suspended in December 2016 by parliament.
She is awaiting a decision by the Constitutional Court on whether she will be permanently removed from the presidency.
Samsung has denied that it has offered bribes or sought any wrongful favours from the president.
The company did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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South Korean prosecutors said on March 21st that they want a court to issue an arrest warrant for former president Park Geun-hye on corruption charges.
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