UPDATE - SKorean leader to come under investigation: prosecution

UPDATES THROUGHOUT

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) - South Korean leader Park Geun-hye is set to become her nation’s first sitting president to be questioned by prosecutors, according to an official investigating a power abuse scandal that has rocked Seoul’s leadership.

Park conceded back on Nov. 4 that she would be prepared to cooperate with the country’s prosecution.

“The face-to-face questioning of President Park should be conducted by this Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. We're waiting for a faithful answer,” the official was quoted as saying Sunday by local news agency Yonhap.

But the presidential office cautioned that a response may not come until Tuesday because of Park’s schedule and the process of appointing an attorney.

Several aides to the president have already been arrested or questioned including private citizen Choi Soon-sil, who is accused of wielding an undue influence over state affairs amid claims that corporations were pressured into making large donations in return for favors.

Prosecutors are pushing to complete any investigation into Park this week because of the upcoming expiry of Choi’s legal detention period.

While the president has twice apologized for seeking speech-writing help from her secret confidante, her Gallup Korea approval rating has been stuck at a record low five percent for a fortnight.

Organizers of a rally in Seoul on Saturday said over a million people gathered to call for Park’s resignation -- dwarfing even the previous weekend’s mass street protest.

Speaking in the wake of the largely peaceful demonstration, the president’s spokesman Jung Youn-kuk admitted she is “considering all possible options” with more than a year left of her term.

The government is currently stuck in a political deadlock due to lawmakers rejecting Park’s proposed solution of handing more power to a new prime minister.