South Korean prosecutors on Thursday summoned former and current executives of SK Group, the country's third-biggest family-controlled conglomerate, for their alleged implication in a corruption scandal embroiling ousted President Park Geun-hye.
The special investigation headquarters of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said two former executives and one sitting executive of SK Group were summoned for questioning earlier in the day.
The headquarters have looked solely into the corruption scandal that led to Park's impeachment and ouster since special prosecutors ended their 70-day investigation on Feb. 28.
Park is accused of conspiring with her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil to extort tens of millions of U.S. dollars from business conglomerates in return for business favors and presidential pardon. Choi established two nonprofit foundations to use for personal gains.
The constitutional court unanimously upheld a motion to impeach Park on March 10. She became the first South Korean leader to be removed from office through impeachment.
Park has been branded by prosecutors as an accomplice to Choi for multiple charges including extortion, abuse of power and bribery. Prosecutors summoned Park to appear in the prosecutor's office on March 21.
One of the summoned SK executives met face-to-face with then-President Park in July 2015 when Chey Tae-won, SK Group chairman, was serving time in jail.
On Aug. 15 of the year, Chey became the only conglomerate head who was specially pardoned by the president.
Later, SK Group donated 11.1 billion won (9.8 million U.S. dollars) to the two Choi-controlled foundations, raising suspicion over the donations in return for the chairman's pardon.
