Samsung, pension fund raided as South Korean probe widens

SEOUL — South Korean prosecutors investigating a corruption scandal surrounding the country’s president and her friend raided a unit of the country’s largest business group, Samsung, and the national pension fund on Wednesday, as public outrage grows over Samsung’s alleged link to the scandal.

An official at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said investigators seized documents, computer hard drives and other materials at Samsung Group’s corporate strategy office in Seoul and at the National Pension Service’s offices in Seoul and its headquarters in Jeonju.

The raids took place as the political fallout from the scandal continued to grow after prosecutors charged Choi Soon-sil, President Park Geun-hye’s longtime friend, and two presidential aides on suspicion of interfering with state affairs and bullying companies, including Samsung, into giving tens of millions of dollars to foundations and businesses Choi controlled.