The 60-year-old's appearance at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office comes a little over a day after she returned from Europe, where she had been residing for nearly two months.
"I am so sorry," she told reporters before entering the prosecutors' office. "I have committed an unpardonable crime."
The woman, who holds no governmental post, has been accused of influencing state affairs via her decades-old friendship with the president. Choi is also accused of siphoning off funds from two nonprofit organizations that received some tens of billions of won in donations from local companies in the name of supporting various cultural and sports projects.
Political commentator Jung Sik Seo analyses.
