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1st Ld-Writethru: Daughter of South Korea's Choi Soon-sil in Danish custody for 4 weeks

Xinhua, January 3, 2017 Adjust font size:

A Danish court announced on Monday that the daughter of impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye's longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil would be in custody for four weeks after her arrest on Sunday.

Chung Yoo-Ra, 20, was arrested by the North Jutland Police at 7:54 p.m. local time on Sunday after a tip from a journalist said that the woman wanted by the police of South Korea for economic crime was staying at a certain address in Aalborg, Denmark.

Chung attended a court hearing at the Court of Aalborgon on Monday afternoon, and the court has decided that she was to remain in custody for four weeks before her extradition.

The prosecutor at the North Jutland Police has forwarded the extradition case of Chung to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the authority in Denmark that deals with extradition requests from other countries. The office is now handling the case of Chung.

"We are already in dialogue with the South Korean Ministry of Justice, and we have asked them to send a formal extradition request, which will then be assessed," said Mohammad Ahsan, deputy director from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, in a press release.

"Naturally, we treat this case with the same thoroughness as any other case," Ahsan said.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions will assess a formal extradition request from the South Korean authorities and decide whether the request for extradition can be met.

Upon her arrest, Chung confessed that she was aware that the South Korean authorities wanted her for questioning, according to the police, adding that she was in Denmark for horse racing.

Three other adults and a child were also at the address where Chung was arrested, but none of them was wanted by the police.

Chung's mother Choi is charged with using her friendship with President Park to extort funds from large businesses and meddling in state affairs though she has no government position and security clearance. Chung is alleged to have received illegal favors when entering a prestigious university. Endit