SEOUL - Special prosecutors of the Republic of Korea on Tuesday branded impeached President Park Geun-hye as a criminal suspect for bribery charge in collusions with her friend Choi Soon-sil, who is at the center of the corruption scandal.

The prosecutors, who have been independently dedicated to investigations into the scandal for the past 70 days, also planned to indict Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong and four Samsung executives later in the day on multiple charges, including bribery.

Lee Kyu-chul, spokesman of the independent counsel team that kicked off investigations on Dec 21, told the last regular news conference that Choi will be indicted on bribery as well as charges of abuse of power and the concealment of illegal wealth earned through criminal acts.

The impeached leader will be booked as an accomplice to Choi for the graft charge. The case will be handed over to state prosecutors for further investigations.

Prosecutors had identified Park as a suspect for extortion and abuse of power. The bribery charge was added following the independent counsel team's probe.

By law, a president gets immune from criminal indictment and detention while in office. If the bill to impeach Park is upheld, she will be stripped of those immunities.

The Samsung heir, who has been taken into custody since Feb 17, will be prosecuted for bribery, embezzlement and the concealment of illegally earned wealth. Four other Samsung executives will be indicted without detention.

Controversial merger

Lee is suspected of paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to Choi in exchange for getting support in the controversial merger in 2015 of two Samsung affiliate to create a de facto holding company.

Chung Sun-sup, the head of chaebol.com, a private watchdog forum on conglomerates, said: "It is yet to be seen whether this is another cosmetic measure aimed to divert public criticism."

Investigations by the special prosecutors ended on Tuesday as Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who is serving as acting president, rejected the request for an extended probe into the scandal.

Xinhua - AFP