Former South Korea president faints during 8-hour court appearance

June 30 (UPI) -- The former president of South Korea momentarily passed out during a court appearance on Friday.

Park Geun-hye, 65, showed symptoms of dizziness at Seoul Central District Court, where she had appeared to testify in the corruption scandal that culminated in her impeachment, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

Park is accused of being complicit with Choi Soon-sil, the woman who may have used her friendship with the former South Korean leader to extract large donations from major companies for two foundations.

South Korean newspaper JoongAng Daily reported the foundations may have been created to launder inheritance money for Chung Yoo-ra, Choi's daughter.

On Friday, Park was summoned to court along with Park Hun-young, a mid-level employee at one of Choi's entities, the K-Sports foundation.

The hearing began at 10 a.m., with three breaks.

By 6:30 p.m. Park was showing signs of severe fatigue, according to eyewitnesses.

The former president first placed her hand on her forehead, then appeared to either collapse or fall asleep at her assigned desk.

Park remained immobilized and her lawyer confirmed her condition to the court and called for an adjournment.

The impeached leader continued to remain motionless at her seat, then eventually walked out of court and headed for the defendant's waiting room, according to the report.

A Park supporter at the site allegedly shouted at prosecutors, telling them to be responsible "if the president dies."

The Seoul court cited her health condition for suspending the hearing for the remainder of the day.

One of Park's lawyers, Lee Sang-chul, confirmed to reporters Park "was dizzy" because of the "length of the court hearings."

Park Hun-young, who appeared as a witness at the court on Friday, provided new evidence of Choi's dealings with South Korea business entities, Newsis reported.

Park had kept a notebook with details of meetings and orders from Choi Soon-sil to meet with representatives of Lotte Group.

The witness said he had hidden the notebook from prosecutors for months because he feared Choi's reprisal.

Park's impeachment triggered South Korea's snap presidential elections and the election of current President Moon Jae-in.