SEOUL, Nov. 11 -- South Korean parliament on Friday held an emergency interpellation session to grill cabinet members over a scandal involving President Park Geun-hye's longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil suspected of meddling in government affairs behind the scenes.

Lawmakers of three main opposition parties raised a flurry of questions about Choi's involvement in important state affairs, including the U.S. missile shield deployment decision, while none of ruling Saenuri Party members requested an inquiry.

Rep. Ahn Min-seok of the main opposition Minjoo Party inquired Defense Minister Han Min-koo about whether the defense chief was informed of the contacts of Jeong Yoon-hoe, Choi's ex-husband, with arms lobbyist Linda Kim and the Lockheed Martin side.

Lockheed Martin is a manufacturer of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), a U.S. missile defense system which South Korea agreed in July with the United States to deploy in its soil by the end of next year.

It was a surprising decision given that Seoul had refrained from the issue and seemingly felt uncomfortable with even mentioning it.

Choi, whose friendship with President Park dates back to the mid-1970s, had maintained an acquaintance with the arms lobbyist at least since 2000, according to Joongang Ilbo newspaper. The lobbyist was detained in October for drug-administering charges.

Some of local media outlets and opposition lawmakers speculated that Choi may have engaged in South Korea's weapons procurement projects as well as the THAAD deployment decision.

【国际英语资讯:Spotlight: S.Korean parliament grills govt members over Choi Soon-sils state affairs inte】相关文章：

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