<div align="justify">South Korea's ousted president Park Geun-Hye was spending her first day in custody today after a court ordered her arrest, with her opponents crowing and her supporters crying.<br /><br />The former head of state stared straight ahead, apparently trying to maintain her composure, as she was driven to the Seoul Detention Centre through a barrage of flashbulbs shortly before dawn.<br /><br />After a marathon hearing yesterday a court in the capital ordered Park's arrest in connection with the corruption scandal that brought millions of people onto the streets and saw her impeached.<br /><br />Prosecutors have yet to specify the formal charges against her, but have previously said she is suspected of bribery, abuse of authority, coercion, and leaking government secrets.<br /><br />"It is justifiable and necessary to arrest (Park) as key charges were justified and there is risk of evidence being destroyed," the court said in a statement.<br /><br />The decision made Park, 65, the third former leader to be arrested over corruption in Asia's fourth-largest economy, where politics and big business have long been closely tied.<br /><br />It is a dramatic step in the disgrace of South Korea's first woman president.<br /><br />The liberal Democratic Party, which is favourite to win the election on May 9 to choose Park's successor, said in a statement that the move showed "all are equal before the law".<br /><br />"We hope today's landmark decision will provide fresh momentum in revealing the truth about the scandal of an unprecedented scale," it added.<br /><br />But Park's own Liberty Korea party -- which has changed its name in an effort to distance itself from her -- called the move "regrettable".<br /><br />Loyalist lawmaker and presidential hopeful Kim Jin-Tae was furious, calling it "the death knell for the country's rule of law".<br /><br />Despite the early hour, about 50 of her supporters were at the detention centre when Park arrived, waving national flags and chanting slogans demanding her release.<br /><br />According to normal procedure, she would have been processed - including being fingerprinted and having her mugshot taken - changed into prison garb with her prisoner number on the chest, and put in a cell.<br /><br />Under South Korean law prosecutors now have up to 20 days in which to indict her.<br /><br />Choi Soon-Sil, Park's secret confidante at the heart of the scandal, is being held at the same centre, as is Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong.<br /><br />Choi is already on trial for forcing top local firms including the tech giant to "donate" nearly USD 70 million to non-profit foundations which she allegedly used for personal gain, while Lee has been indicted for bribery and other offences.<br /><br />d around 120,000 pages of documents to the Seoul Central District Court, and said it would be "counter to the principle of fairness" if Park were not arrested.<br /><br />The former leader, who has denied the accusations, was grilled for nearly nine hours by the judge.<br /><br />That came after she underwent a 21-hour interrogation session at the prosecutors' office last week, having refused repeated requests to be interviewed while in power.<br /><br />Park, daughter of late dictator Park Chung-Hee, secured the largest vote share of any candidate in the democratic era when she was elected in 2012.</div>
<div align="justify">South Korea's ousted president Park Geun-Hye was spending her first day in custody today after a court ordered her arrest, with her opponents crowing and her supporters crying.<br /><br />The former head of state stared straight ahead, apparently trying to maintain her composure, as she was driven to the Seoul Detention Centre through a barrage of flashbulbs shortly before dawn.<br /><br />After a marathon hearing yesterday a court in the capital ordered Park's arrest in connection with the corruption scandal that brought millions of people onto the streets and saw her impeached.<br /><br />Prosecutors have yet to specify the formal charges against her, but have previously said she is suspected of bribery, abuse of authority, coercion, and leaking government secrets.<br /><br />"It is justifiable and necessary to arrest (Park) as key charges were justified and there is risk of evidence being destroyed," the court said in a statement.<br /><br />The decision made Park, 65, the third former leader to be arrested over corruption in Asia's fourth-largest economy, where politics and big business have long been closely tied.<br /><br />It is a dramatic step in the disgrace of South Korea's first woman president.<br /><br />The liberal Democratic Party, which is favourite to win the election on May 9 to choose Park's successor, said in a statement that the move showed "all are equal before the law".<br /><br />"We hope today's landmark decision will provide fresh momentum in revealing the truth about the scandal of an unprecedented scale," it added.<br /><br />But Park's own Liberty Korea party -- which has changed its name in an effort to distance itself from her -- called the move "regrettable".<br /><br />Loyalist lawmaker and presidential hopeful Kim Jin-Tae was furious, calling it "the death knell for the country's rule of law".<br /><br />Despite the early hour, about 50 of her supporters were at the detention centre when Park arrived, waving national flags and chanting slogans demanding her release.<br /><br />According to normal procedure, she would have been processed - including being fingerprinted and having her mugshot taken - changed into prison garb with her prisoner number on the chest, and put in a cell.<br /><br />Under South Korean law prosecutors now have up to 20 days in which to indict her.<br /><br />Choi Soon-Sil, Park's secret confidante at the heart of the scandal, is being held at the same centre, as is Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong.<br /><br />Choi is already on trial for forcing top local firms including the tech giant to "donate" nearly USD 70 million to non-profit foundations which she allegedly used for personal gain, while Lee has been indicted for bribery and other offences.<br /><br />d around 120,000 pages of documents to the Seoul Central District Court, and said it would be "counter to the principle of fairness" if Park were not arrested.<br /><br />The former leader, who has denied the accusations, was grilled for nearly nine hours by the judge.<br /><br />That came after she underwent a 21-hour interrogation session at the prosecutors' office last week, having refused repeated requests to be interviewed while in power.<br /><br />Park, daughter of late dictator Park Chung-Hee, secured the largest vote share of any candidate in the democratic era when she was elected in 2012.</div>