South Korean prosecutors have started investigating domestic conglomerates Lotte Group and SK Group for their involvement in a corruption scandal that led to former President Park Geun-hye’s ouster, Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday citing a prosecution official.
According to Yonhap, the prosecutors questioned two employees of the Korea Customs Service (KCS), who were believed to be in charge of duty-free shops.
The logo of SK is seen in front of its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea. /CFP Photo
The two conglomerates were alleged to have donated large sums of money to two nonprofit foundations controlled by Park’s close friend Choi Soon-sil in return for favors in winning licenses to run duty-free shops in Seoul.
The prosecutors raided the headquarters of Lotte, SK and several government offices on November 24, 2016 in a widening probe into the influence-peddling scandal. But the probe was stopped after an independent inspection team was launched to investigate the scandal.
South Korea’s largest family-run conglomerate, Samsung Group, has undergone an investigation for being involved in the political scandal, with its de facto leader, Lee Jae-yong, arrested earlier this year.
File of Park Geun-hye leaving after making a statement over influence-peddling scandal in 2016. /CFP Photo
The country’s former president, Park Geun-hye, was removed from office last Friday, after South Korean Constitutional Court upheld a parliamentary impeachment vote. The country is expected to hold an election on May 9 to choose a new president.
(With inputs from Reuters)
