SKorean leader to come under investigation: report

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) - South Korean leader Park Geun-hye is set to become her country’s first sitting president to be questioned by prosecutors, according to sources cited by local media Sunday.

Park conceded back on Nov. 4 that she would be prepared to cooperate with investigators looking into a power abuse scandal that has rocked Seoul’s presidential office.

Several aides to the president have already been arrested or questioned including unofficial confidante 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.

“The questioning of the president is most likely to take place later this week. But there is also a possibility of the questioning being delayed. In that case, it will be possible after the indictment of Choi,” a Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office official was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.

While Park has twice apologized for seeking advice from Choi on writing speeches, her Gallup Korea approval rating has been stuck at a record-low five percent for a fortnight.

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

Speaking in the wake of the largely peaceful demonstration, presidential spokesman Jung Youn-kuk admitted Park 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.