S Korea prosecutors plan raid of presidential palace

South Korean prosecutors investigating the corruption scandal involving impeached President Park Geun-Hye said on Friday they intended to raid her offices, over the objections of her aides.

The scandal, which has focused on Park’s relationship with an old friend now arrested for fraud, sparked nationwide protests and saw parliament vote to impeach the president last week. Park stands accused of colluding with her friend, Choi Soon-Sil, to coerce local firms to “donate” tens of millions of dollars to non-profit foundations that Choi then used as personal ATMs.

“We came to believe that it is necessary to raid certain parts of the (presidential) Blue House,” said Lee Kyu-Chul, a spokesman for the team of independent prosecutors on the case.

The team -- appointed by lawmakers -- has recently taken over investigations by government prosecutors who had sought to raid Park’s office in October but were turned away at the gate.