Former South Korean President Accused of Receiving Bribes of Over 3 Billion Won from Intelligence Agency
Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye faces additional charges related to receiving more than 3 billion won from the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Today (January 4), the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office accused Ms. Park Geun-hye of additional charges of bribery, loss of state funds, and abuse of power.
Ms. Park Geun-hye when she was arrested. Photo: Yonhap.
With the new charges, the ousted South Korean president faces a total of 20 charges, including allegations of “extortion” from large Korean corporations and colluding with her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil to manipulate power.
Ms. Park Geun-hye is accused of receiving a total of 3.5 billion won from the NIS special operation fund between May 2013 and July 2016. This amount was divided into small amounts and sent to Ms. Park in amounts of 50 million to 200 million won per month.
According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Park also asked former NIS Director Lee Byung-ho to give 150 million won to her secretary Lee Won-jong.
The indictment also said that the NIS money was kept at the office of former presidential secretary Lee Jae-man and was spent on personal expenses such as buying phones, paying for phone services and paying for numerous cosmetic treatments for Park Geun-hye and her close friends, including Choi Soo-sil. Other close associates of Park, including Lee Jae-man, Ahn Bong-geun and Jeong Ho-seong, also received bonuses from the NIS money.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office also found evidence that some NIS funds were transferred to a store owned by Choi Soon-sil.
Park Geun-hye was arrested in late March last year after the Constitutional Court upheld her impeachment on a series of corruption charges involving her and her close friend Choi Soon-sil. One of the most serious charges against the former South Korean president was that she accepted 59.2 billion won ($52.7 million) in bribes from major South Korean conglomerates, including Samsung, Lotte and SK.
During the previous preliminary hearings in court, Ms. Park's lawyers denied all the charges. She also did not attend these preliminary hearings because the law does not require her to.
Park Geun-hye is the third former president of South Korea to be tried for corruption. Previously, former presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo were also convicted in 1996 and 1997./.
