SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Supporters of arrested former President Park Geun-hye rallied in South Korea's capital Saturday for her release.
After questioning Park during the March 30 hearing for the arrest warrant requested by the prosecutors, Kang Bu-yeong, the judge in charge of warrants for the Seoul Central District Court, issued the warrant at 3:03 am on March 31.
The Seoul Central District Court issued a warrant to detain Park on charges of bribery, coercion, abuse of power and disclosure of state secrets, according to Yonhap.
Prosecutors obtained a warrant for her arrest from Seoul Central District Court.
But South Korea has a history of pardoning convicted former leaders, and some conservative politicians and media are urging that Park not be punished further, saying she has already lost the presidency, her reputation and many of her political allies.
The 65-year-old was driven to a detention centre south of Seoul after a court approved her arrest.
Park, the daughter of late dictator Park Chung-Hee, is the third former leader to be arrested over corruption in Asia's fourth-largest economy, where politics and big business have always been closely tied.
Choi Soon-Sil, Park's secret confidante at the heart of the scandal, is already on trial for forcing top local firms including tech giant Samsung to "donate" almost $70 million to non-profit foundations which she allegedly used for personal gain. If Park leaves the detention center to go to the prosecution for an interrogation, the Presidential Security Service will have to resume its protection of her.
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Prosecutors have until April 19 to question Park before they indict her.
Park is suspected of having colluded with her long-time friend Choi to get Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong to provide a total of 43.3 billion won in funds in exchange for Cheong Wa Dae assisting Lee in a smooth power transfer from his ailing father, Chairman Lee Kun-hee.
Dressed in the green jumpsuit of undertrials, Park's days at the detention center are to start at 6:30am and end at 9pm.
Liberal opposition politician Moon Jae-in is leading in opinion polls and is expected to win that election.
Ms Park is the third former president to be jailed since South Korea became a democracy in 1988. There have been massive protests against Park, with thousands taking to the streets demanding her ouster.
Earlier in March, Park denied all charges against her during the first questioning period.
It made Park the country's first democratically elected leader to be forced from office since democracy came here in the late 1980s.
Those on the blacklist were to be denied funding from state organizations such as the Korean Film Council (KOFIC.) Park is alleged to have pressured and fired cultural industry officials who resisted the blacklist. During Japan's colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula, the prison was notorious as a torture center for Korean independence activists.
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