SEOUL • In her first interview since she was impeached by Parliament, South Korean President Park Geun Hye says the scandal that led to her downfall is a "huge mountain heaped up with lies".
She gave the interview to a little-known podcast show, instead of major newspapers or broadcasters. The interviewer, chief editor Jeong Kyu Jae of the Korea Economic Daily, is known for being pro-Park.
In the one-hour interview on Wednesday, Ms Park said she felt the influence-peddling scandal had been plotted for a long time, reported The Korea Times.
"It seems the ongoing things are not accidental," she said. But she declined to comment when asked whether she thought specific figures might have plotted it.
She dismissed the protests demanding her ouster as a "conspiracy", adding that "the series of nonsense" shows how "misunderstanding, fiction and lies are piled up".
South Korea's first female president was impeached by Parliament last Dec 9 after accusations that she had colluded with her confidante Choi Soon Sil to pressure the country's big businesses, including Samsung, into donating to two foundations set up to back Ms Park's policy initiatives.
Ms Park, 64, remains in office but has been stripped of her powers while she awaits a Constitutional Court ruling on the fate of the impeachment vote.
Ms Park, Choi and Samsung have all denied wrongdoing.
In the interview, Ms Park said Choi was a long-time friend who helped her, but she came to know many new things about her as the scandal emerged, implying that she did not know - and was not involved in - Choi's alleged graft.
All political parties except for her own Saenuri Party said the interview left them "speechless" and "dumbfounded".
"Her argument about conspiracy only deepens the domestic rift and political crisis," said Mr Choung Byoung Gug, chairman of the Bareun Party, a breakaway group from Ms Park's conservative Saenuri Party.
Lawmaker Joo Seung Yong said Ms Park should clarify her claims before the Constitutional Court if she is wrongfully accused as she alleges, The Korea Times reported.
In an editorial, The Korea Times said the interview did not cover any of the big issues regarding Ms Park's role in the corruption scandal that led to her impeachment.
"It is inappropriate that Park, who has refused to be questioned by prosecutors, is using the media again to spread her one-sided claims," said the newspaper.
