S. Korean prosecutors to decide who to be indicted over presidential scandal

SEOUL - South Korean prosecutors independently investigating the scandal embroiling President Park Geun-hye said Monday that who is to be indicted among suspects over the scandal will be decided the next day when their official investigation is scheduled to end.

Lee Kyu-chul, spokesman of the independent counsel team, told a press briefing that those who will be subject to the indictment will be announced en bloc on Tuesday.

The team, which kicked off investigation on Dec 21 into the corruption scandal that led to Park's impeachment, is set to wrap it up Tuesday as Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who is serving as acting president, rejected a request for an extended probe earlier in the day.

Subject to the prosecution would be Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who is now in custody for bribery charges, and President Park's longtime friend Choi Soon-sil who is at the center of the influence-peddling scandal.

Some of key Samsung executives could be placed under indictment together with doctors and college professors who are suspected of being implicated in the scandal.

The spokesman said 10 to 15 suspects would be prosecuted in addition to 13 suspects, who had been already under indictment. He noted that most of Samsung suspects would be indicted.

Regarding the failed face-to-face interrogation of President Park, the spokesman said the president side adhered to a position that her interrogation can never be recorded or video-recorded.

He said the recording was necessary on uncertainties about what would happen during the questioning.

Choi, Park's decades-long friend, had insisted that she was intimidated during her questioning, flatly denied by the special prosecutors. Choi's insistence on the intimidation was believed to damage the legitimacy of the probe.