S. Korean ex-President to deliver message ahead of questioning

Seoul, March 20 (IANS) South Korea's former President Park Geun-hye will deliver a message before being questioned by the prosecution this week over a string of corruption allegations, her lawyer said on Monday.

"Park Geun-hye has prepared a message. She will deliver it as she heads to the prosecutors' office," her lawyer Son Bum-kyu told the media. However, he declined to elaborate, Yonhap News Agency reported.Park, the country's first democratically elected leader to be ousted, is set to undergo questioning at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on Tuesday morning.

The former President has been named a criminal suspect for allegedly abusing her power and colluding with her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil in extorting money from local conglomerates.Park has so far rejected a direct investigation as the nation's president is immune from criminal prosecution. The Constitutional Court's decision to oust her earlier this month stripped her of the privilege.