Ousted South Korean president Park Geun-hye interrogated for 14 hours in graft probe

South Korean prosecutors interrogated former president Park Geun-hye for 14-hours on Tuesday (21 March) as they probe a series of charges including bribery, abuse of power and coercion and leak of government secrets levelled against the 65-year-old.

Park, who was impeached in December 2016 and subsequently removed from office on 10 March, arrived at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office at around 9.30am local time (12.30am GMT). On her arrival, she apologised to the public and said, "I am sorry to the people. I will faithfully go through the interrogation."

According to reports, Park denied all the charges against her, but prosecutors did not confirm her stand.

She did not exercise her right to remain silent, as the questioning continued late into the night, a senior prosecution official said. Son Bum-kyu, Park's lawyer had earlier said that the questioning would not be recorded as her attorneys declined to follow the process.

Park and her lawyers left the prosecutor's office 22 hours later, after checking her statements for accuracy.

The scandal-hit former leader is accused of colluding with her close aide Choi Soon-sil and persuaded major companies, including Samsung Group to provide financial assistance to two of the latter's foundations. Bribery and corruption charges have already be filed against Choi.

Prosecutors have not issued an arrest warrant against Park, although they said they were "concentrating on the interrogation at the moment", Yonhap news agency reported.

Anti-Park protesters gathered near a gate of the prosecution compound and demanded that the former president be arrested.

With Tuesday's interrogation, Park has become the fourth president of the country to be investigated over criminal charges, the other three being, Roh Tae-woo, Chun Doo-hwan and the late Roh Moo-hyun.