S Korea prosecutors say President Park was accomplice in scandal

The allegation that Park was a conspirator “was constructed on layer upon layer of imagination and conjecture like a castle built on sand”, said Park lawyer Yoo Yeong-ha.

In a televised news conference, Lee said that based on the evidence, “the president was collusively involved in a considerable part of the criminal activities by suspects Choi Soon-sil, Ahn Jong-beom and Jung Ho-sung”.

Jeong, also one of Park’s former aides, was indicted for leaking classified information to Choi.

Choi Soon-sil, the friend of Park who was indicted, is accused of using her ties with Park to funnel money to her charitable organizations.

“We will discuss ways to push President Park to step aside at an early date, including the impeachment option”, he said.

Nevertheless, Park still planned to cooperate with prosecutors for questions this week to order to “prove her innocence”.

Choo added that the party will immediately start the necessary formalities for the impeachment process in parliament although she warned it could take up to six months, according to a statement issued by the party.

South Korean law stipulates that the Constitutional Court should make the final decision within 180 days after it receives an impeachment proposal from the National Assembly.

Ms. Choi’s possible influence over government policy has been the subject of daily speculation in South Korea following media reports she received classified presidential documents on a tablet computer.

Ms Park has shown few signs that she plans to step down any time soon, despite hundreds of thousands of protesters gathering near the presidential compound over the past two weekends to demand her resignation and arrest. The attorney said that Park would “try to co-operate” with prosecutors this week.

On Saturday, police said about 170,000 people turned out for the latest anti-Park protest in streets near City Hall and a boulevard fronting an old palace gate in Seoul. “I realise that whatever I do, it will be hard to mend the hearts of the people, and then I feel a sense of shame”.

“We have a strong reason to impeach her”.

Park has apologized multiple times for her role in the scandal. She also has tried to pursue a veneer of normalcy, emerging from a hiatus last week to name new vice foreign and culture ministers and announced she will attend a trilateral summit in Tokyo next month.

A growing number of opposition lawmakers are urging their party leaders to seek impeachment, and about 30 members of Park’s own ruling party also voiced support for the move.

Park can not be indicted because she has constitutional immunity, prosecutor Lee said, but added: “We will continue to investigate the president”, without elaborating.

“Impeachment proceedings need flawless preparations as much is possible”, Choo Mi-ae, head of the Democratic Party told a party meeting, adding the best scenario was for Park to step down. Witnesses to be summoned for the hearings include Choi and her associates as well as former presidential secretaries.

“Such political demagoguery is much too irresponsible to be made by a responsible leader of the largest opposition party”, Jung said on Friday.

Park is the daughter of Park Chung-hee, the country’s president from 1961 to 1979, who was assassinated by his own intelligence chief.