Former South Korean president sentenced to 20 years in prison for corruption
Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye has just been sentenced to 20 years in prison for corruption and illegal use of government "black" funds.
The Seoul Supreme Court's verdict on July 10 concluded a years-long trial of Ms. Park. According to Yonhap, in the latest verdict, judges decided to reduce Ms. Park's sentence from 30 years in prison as proposed by prosecutors to 20 years in prison. In addition, the 68-year-old former female president must also pay a fine of up to 18 billion won (about 15 million USD).
 |
| Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye is escorted by police to Seoul Court. Photo: Reuters |
Ms. Park was impeached in 2016 for a series of allegations of wrongdoing, especially corruption. After the impeachment process, in 2017, the first woman to hold the position of head of the Korean Government continued to be prosecuted for abuse of power, bribery and leaking confidential government information.
A year later, in 2018, she was sentenced to 24 years in prison, which was later increased to 25 years when new details of the case came to light.
Prosecutors accused Ms. Park of colluding with her friend Choi Soon-sil to pocket tens of millions of dollars from South Korea’s family-owned conglomerates, or chaebols. The corruption scandal has sparked nationwide protests, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets to protest or support Ms. Park.
The scandal has also landed several prominent businessmen in trouble, including Jay Y. Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Group. Lee was initially sentenced to five years in prison for bribery, but was later released just before the 2018 Winter Olympics opened in South Korea.
