Tycoons in the dock over expanding scandal involving South Korean president

The publicity-shy heads of South Korea’s largest conglomerates faced their worst nightmare on Tuesday – being publicly grilled about possible corrupt practises before an audience of millions.

The eight men slated to appear before a televised parliamentary probe into a scandal engulfing President Park Geun-hye are among the wealthiest and most influential in the country.

Their giant family-run corporations, or “chaebols”, which include household names like Samsung and Hyundai, have dominated the export-driven direction of Asia’s fourth largest economy for decades.

All eight face questions about tens of millions of dollars their companies donated to two dubious foundations controlled by Choi Soon-sil, a close friend of the president.

Choi is now awaiting trial on charges of coercion and abuse of power – accused of leveraging her ties to Park to strong-arm the chaebols into funding the foundations and then siphoning off cash for her personal use.