South Korean President hopeful praises ex-President Park Geun-hye’s arrest

A liberal politician opinion polls show as the favorite to become South Korea’s next president says the arrest of Park Geun-hye took the country a step toward restoring “justice and common sense.”

The camp of Moon Jae-in said in a statement Friday that the nation should now “turn the page on painful history” and focus on creating a fair and clean country.

His Democratic Party, the largest in parliament, drove the efforts to impeach Park in December. Her arrest came three week after the Constitutional Court formally stripped her of office. Moon lost the 2012 presidential race to Park.

Park’s conservative party described her arrest as “pitiful.”

“We wish that the sad history of a former president getting arrested never repeats in the Republic of Korea,” the Liberty Korea Party said in a statement, using South Korea’s formal name.

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4:55 a.m.

South Korea’s disgraced former president has arrived at a detention center after a Seoul court approved her arrest over corruption allegations.

Live TV footage shows a black sedan carrying Park Geun-hye entering the detention center near Seoul early Friday. Earlier in the day, the Seoul Central District Court approved prosecutors’ request to arrest her, citing worries that she may try to destroy evidence.

Many Park supporters were seen carrying national flags and shouting “president” when Park’s car was entering the detention facility.

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4:30 a.m.

Live TV footage shows a black sedan carrying disgraced former South Korean President Park Geun-hye leaving a prosecutors’ office after a Seoul court approved her arrest.

The YTN television network says her car is heading to a detention facility near Seoul. It says Park will be detained.

The Seoul Central District Court on Friday approved prosecutors’ request to arrest Park, citing worries that she may try to destroy evidence.

Park was questioned for nearly nine hours by the court Thursday before its decision to grant her arrest warrant.

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4 a.m.

A South Korean court says it has approved the arrest of ex-President Park Geun-hye over corruption allegations.

Friday’s ruling by the Seoul Central District Court means that prosecutors can immediately put Park in a detention facility. Prosecutors can detain her for up to 20 days before formally charging her.

Prosecutors have been pushing to arrest her over allegations that she colluded with a confidante to extort money from businesses and committed other wrongdoing.

The Constitutional Court ruled to dismiss Park over the allegations earlier in March, three months after Parliament impeached her.