Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye formally indicted

Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye was formally indicted on April 17 for bribery and other charges in a scandal with her close friend Choi Soon-sil.

Yonhap reported on April 17 that former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who has been detained since March 31, has been formally charged with bribery, coercion, abuse of power and leaking state secrets.

Specifically, Ms. Park was accused of colluding with her close friend Choi Soon-sil to force local businesses to donate a huge sum of up to 77.4 billion won (68 million USD) to two non-profit foundations Mir and K-Sports. Ms. Park was also accused of pressuring Lotte and SK Group to illegally profit.

Ms. Park has been arrested since March 31. Photo: Reuters

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin was put on trial for giving 7 billion won in bribes to the K-Sports Foundation, which was allegedly controlled by Ms. Choi. Meanwhile, SK Group avoided prosecution by refusing to pay the 8.9 billion won demanded by Ms. Park.

According to prosecutors, Ms. Park promised preferential treatment to businesses when they bid for duty-free stores or other business ventures. Lotte, along with Hyundai and Shinsegae, was granted licenses by the Korea Customs Service (KCS) to operate lucrative stores in Seoul in December 2016.

Woo Byung-woo, Park's senior secretary for civil affairs from 2015 to 2016, was also indicted on charges of dereliction of duty for failing to stop Choi from interfering in state affairs and abusing power.

Ms. Park still denies all charges against her.

According to CAND