SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) --A local professor was questioned by special prosecutors Thursday over suspicions he was involved in giving undue favors to the jailed daughter of a woman at the center of South Korea's political scandal that led to President Park Geun-hye's impeachment.
Professor Namkung Gon at Ewha Womans University in Seoul appeared before the office of the special investigation team looking into the influence-peddling scandal surrounding the president Park and her friend Choi Soon-sil.
Namkung, who was the chief in charge of the school's admissions, is under suspicion of using his influence to help Chung Yoo-ra get into the school. Chung, a former member of the national equestrian team, is accused of receiving other academic favors by taking advantage of her mother's ties to the president.
She was arrested in Denmark on Sunday and has been put under detention by a local court. South Korean authorities are seeking to repatriate her.
In December, special prosecutors here requested Interpol put Chung on its wanted list after she declined to respond to the investigation team's repeated summons.
Also on Thursday, investigators questioned presidential secretary Kim Jin-soo over suspicions the presidential office pressured the country's state fund to support a merger deal between Samsung Group's two units in 2015.
The special counsel's team is planning to question the country's newly appointed Vice Culture Minister Song Soo-keun later in the day over allegations the presidential office created a blacklist of cultural figures who are deemed critical of the government.
scaaet@yna.co.kr
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