Japanese Correspondent Faces More Questioning

Prosecutors said Tuesday that they plan to summon for further questioning the Seoul bureau chief of the Japanese daily Sankei Shimbun, who is accused of defaming President Park Geun-hye.

A prosecution spokesman said, "The first round of questioning took considerable time due to the need for an interpreter, so we need to question him further."

Prosecutors had questioned Tatsuya Kato on Monday over an Aug. 3 article in the online edition of the paper where he pointed out that Park disappeared from the radar for seven hours on April 16, when the ferry Sewol sank killing about 250 passengers. A rightwing activist group accused Kato of defaming Park based on "groundless rumors."

The spokesman claimed the investigation is "standard procedure." Prosecutors will decide whether to indict Kato after further questioning.

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