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President Park Geun-hye's former chief of staff has been banned from leaving the country, as part of a probe into an influence-peddling scandal surrounding Park and her close confidante Choi Soon-sil, government sources said Thursday.
The special investigation team led by independent counsel Park Young-soo has imposed an overseas travel ban on Kim Ki-choon, 77, who served as the chief of staff from 2013 to 2015. He is suspected of overlooking, or even protecting, Choi as she meddled in state affairs without holding an official government post. Choi was arrested and indicted last month.
The independent counsel team, while preparing to officially launch its investigation, also put travel bans on other key figures involved in the scandal, including doctors who are suspected of giving treatments to President Park without leaving official records.
The spokesperson of the investigation team Lee Kyu-chul confirmed that they have barred a number of people from leaving the country. Lee, however, declined to comment on who they were or how many have been put under the restriction.
Independent counsel Park Young-soo is accelerating the preparation for the investigation, which will last for 70 days after the official launch. He has an additional 20 days for preparation and the probe can be extended for another month.
Park is awaiting the Constitutional Court's decision on her impeachment, which was passed by parliament last Friday over suspicions she let her friend Choi influence state affairs and amass profits using her ties to the president.
"We cannot interrogate the president two or three times," the independent counsel told reporters during a lunch meeting. "It would be best for it to be done all at once or twice at the most."
"We need to be fully prepared (ahead of the questioning)," he added. "There could be security problems if we call her in here (the office of the special probe team) and we need to treat the president with due respect."
The chief of the investigation team said they are planning to officially launch the investigation early next week.
(YONHAP)
