South Korean prosecutors raided President Park Geun-hye’s presidential compound on Saturday, widening their investigation into an influence-peddling scandal that is threatening her grip on power.
Investigators searched the offices of two presidential secretaries at 2 pm in Seoul and may continue until Sunday, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said. Investigators also visited the homes of seven current and former government employees.
It is the first time the Blue House has been searched since prosecutors unsuccessfully tried to enter the presidential complex in 2012 under President Lee Myung-bak over a corruption scandal involving his retirement home.
The action came hours after the presidential office said Park told her 10 chief advisers to resign over a scandal that has sent her approval ratings to all-time lows. Park apologised Tuesday in a nationally televised address and acknowledged she consulted her friend, Choi Soon-sil, on “some documents” for a certain period of time after she took office in 2013. Her comments fanned suspicions that Choi may have meddled in state affairs extensively through her relationship with the president.
The offices raided Saturday included those of An Chong-bum, Park’s chief adviser on policy coordination. Opposition lawmakers accuse him of pressuring a business lobby group into donating millions of dollars to foundations controlled by Choi. An denied the allegations at a parliamentary hearing.
