Impeached S Korean president plans to be interrogated by prosecutors

SEOUL - Impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye has said on an Internet TV that she plans to be interrogated by an independent counsel team investigating a scandal that led to her impeachment.

President Park held an exclusive interview with a conservative podcast, which was broadcast on Wednesday night, saying schedules for her to be investigated by the special prosecutors are now under arrangement.

The special prosecutors said its face-to-face investigation into the president should be conducted as late as the beginning of February.

Their probe is scheduled to terminate by the end of February. It can be extended for 30 days if Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who serves as acting president, allows it.

Park has yet to be quizzed by the independent counsel team as well as general prosecutors, which had identified Park as a criminal accomplice to her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil.

The impeached leader said no review has been made on whether to appear in the constitutional court's pleading session, indicating her unwillingness to attend the hearings that will determine her fate.

The constitutional court has been deliberating on the impeachment motion since it was passed in the parliament on Dec 9. The court has up to 180 days to rule, but it is speeding up proceedings to make the ruling before the middle of March.