South Korean president bows in apology for leaking government documents to close friend

South Korean President Park Geun-hye faces charges of leaking government documents to a friend.

Ms. Park Geun-hye appeared on television to apologize to the people (photo: CNN)

In a televised speech on October 25, South Korean President Park Geun-hye bowed in apology to the people after admitting that she had passed many confidential government documents to her longtime friend Choi Sun-sil for advice. The confession has caused her to face a series of criticisms from the opposition party and the Korean public.

Previously, according to an investigation by JTBC, a series of confidential government documents were found on Choi Sun-sil's computer. Choi Sun-sil's associates were asked to throw away the computer before it was found by a JTBC reporter team.

After the incident was exposed, South Korean prosecutors investigated allegations against Choi Sun-sil, one of which was that she abused her personal relationship with President Park Geun-hye to pressure large economic groups, forcing them to donate millions of dollars to two non-profit organizations that Choi founded.

Ms. Choi is the daughter of Mr. Choi Tae Min - an advisor to Ms. Park Geun Hye until his death in 1994. She has now left Korea after the abuse of power scandal broke out.

The incident is expected to seriously damage Park Geun-hye's reputation in the final year of her presidential term.

According to vntinnhanh/CNN