S. Korean prosecutors repeat need for president to be questioned this week

South Korean prosecutors repeated its position on Monday that President Park Geun-hye should be investigated no later than Wednesday over a political scandal involving her longtime confidante.

An official at the prosecution office was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying that an investigation into Park should be conducted as late as Wednesday though the timing is under consultations with the presidential office.

The unnamed official said it would be most desirable in the prosecution's view to investigate Park on Wednesday, adding the probe past Wednesday may affect overall investigation into the scandal.

Under the country's constitution, a president has immunity from indictment during his or her presidency, but criminal investigation is possible if execution is suspended by the end of the five-year term.

Park has about 15 months left in her single term that ends in February 2018.

The embattled president vowed to accept a criminal investigation if necessary during her second public apology earlier this month for the scandal surrounding Park's decades-long friend Choi Soon-sil, suspected of meddling in government affairs though she has no public position.

If realized, Park would become the first South Korean leader to be investigated by prosecutors as a sitting president.

Over a million South Koreans rallied in central Seoul on Saturday night to demand Park step down. It was the largest mass rally since June 1987 when about a million protested against the military dictatorship.

Park's approval rating stayed at 5 percent for two weeks in a row, according to a Gallup Korea survey released on Friday. It was the lowest for any South Korean leader. Enditem