Special prosecutors in Seoul are attempting to arrest an incumbent presidential aide in connection with allegations President Park Geun-hye received medical treatments from those without due safety checks, their spokesman said Thursday.
The investigation team, led by Independent Counsel Park Young-soo, is trying to locate the whereabouts of Lee Young-seon with a court-issued warrant after he repeatedly disobeyed its summons, spokesman Lee Kyu-chul told a regular press briefing.
Lee said the presidential aide is suspected of helping therapists enter the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae without leaving official records to give treatments to the president. He declined to elaborate on further details.
The probe team, looking into a broad range of alleged irregularities committed by President Park and her friend Choi Soon-sil, is preparing to wrap up the investigation with the deadline slated for Tuesday.
The special counsel has asked Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn to extend the period for a month, but it is unclear whether he will approve the request.
The team has decided not to appeal a recent court ruling that refused to allow it to search the presidential office. The investigators brought the case to the court earlier this month, after its attempt to raid the president's office on Feb. 3 was halted by presidential aides due to security reasons. (Yonhap)