South Korea’s Park Geun-hye hires lawyer, as rivals circle
The president faces questioning by prosecutors in a widening political scandal, and growing pressure to resign or face possible impeachment
Seoul — While South Korean President Park Geun-hye hires a lawyer to prepare for questioning over a snowballing political scandal, her main political rival is preparing to push for her resignation. Park, who would be the first sitting president to be interrogated in a criminal case, has seen her approval ratings plunge, with hundreds of thousands of protesters taking to Seoul’s streets on Saturday demanding she resign. Moon Jae-in, the front-runner to become South Korea’s next president, said on Tuesday he would seek Park’s resignation. "We have reached an irreversible situation," Moon said in a televised briefing. "I will run a nationwide campaign to push her out until she declares unconditional resignation." The scandal centres on Park’s shadowy confidant, Choi Soon-Sil, who is accused of using her ties with the president to coerce local firms to donate millions of dollars to non-profit foundations that Choi then used for personal gain.
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