Thanks for the report, Semin.
We appreciate it.
Now... the Seoul court said...
it gave the green light to the arrest warrant in acknowledgment of the charges Park faces...
and concerns she might attempt to destroy evidence.
Our Hwang Hojun has more.
From being the first female leader of South Korea,.. to becoming a pre-trial detainee....
it was a rapid fall from grace.
Former President Park Geun-hye was arrested in the predawn hours of Friday morning as
the Seoul Central District Court granted the state prosecutors' warrant request,... just
21 days after her impeachment.
She's now the country's third former president to be arrested on criminal charges, following
Roh Tae-woo and Chun Doo-hwan. Park, who went through a nearly nine-hour-warrant
hearing, and waited another eight hours at the nearby Seoul Central District Prosecutors'
Office during the judge's deliberation, left to her next destination at around 4:30 a.m,..
The Seoul Detention Center.
The judge explained his decision in a statement that quote "The grounds and necessity for
Park's arrest are acknowledged, and there's a concern over the destruction of evidence."
There are 13 charges against Park, the most among the two other former presidents arrested
in the past.
The charges include,... colluding with her close confidante Choi Soon-sil to extort tens
of millions of dollars from conglomerates,... leaking confidential presidential office documents
to Choi... and ordering the creation of a blacklist of cultural figures critical of
the government.
Many of Park's alleged accomplices, including Choi and Samsung Electronics vice chairman
Lee Jae-yong, have already either been arrested or jailed for their suspected involvement
in the scandal.
Park had repeatedly refused to be questioned by prosecutors and the independent counsel
while she was in office as she had been immune from criminal prosecution.
But she lost that immunity after the Constitutional Court upheld her impeachment motion earlier
this month.
Now that the Seoul Central District Court has granted Park's arrest warrant, prosecutors
will have up to 20 days to continue their investigation and formally indict her.
If she's convicted of receiving bribes,... she could be facing a minimum of ten years
in jail.
Hwang Hojun, Arirang News.