S.Korean prosecutors request investigation into president over confidante scandal

South Korean prosecutors have requested a direct investigation into President Park Geun-hye over a scandal involving Park's longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil, local media reports showed Sunday.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in charge of probe into the Choi case was quoted as saying that it had delivered to the presidential office its request to investigate President Park on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Face-to-face investigation would be preferable in principle, the prosecution said, but it depends on consultations with Park's office.

If Park is investigated by prosecutors, she would become the first South Korean president subject to criminal investigation as incumbent leader.

Under the country's constitution, a president is free from being criminally indicted by prosecutors, but some of law experts claim that investigation itself is possible if indictment is suspended until the end of presidency. Park has about 15 months left in her single, five-year term.

President Park made her second apology to the public last Friday, saying she will accept prosecutors' investigation if necessary.

However, her apologies failed to appease public anger as over 1 million South Koreans took to the streets on Saturday night in the third weekly mass rally in central Seoul.

Protesters shouted for Park's resignation as Park already lost credibility and authority to govern the country. Politicians demanded Park distance herself from all state affairs, including diplomacy and defense. Enditem