South Korean court jails Park for 24 years for bribery

By Hyonhee Shin and Heekyong Yang

 

South Korean ousted leader Park Geun-hye arrives at a court in Seoul, South Korea, August 7, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo

 

SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean court jailed former President Park Geun-hye for 24 years on Friday over a scandal that exposed webs of corruption between political leaders and the country's conglomerates.

 

Park became South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be forced from office last year when the Constitutional Court ordered her out over a scandal that landed the heads of two conglomerates in jail.

 

The court also fined Park, the daughter of a former military dictator, 18 billion won ($16.9 million) fine, after finding her guilty of charges including bribery, abuse of power and coercion.

 

"The defendant abused her presidential power entrusted by the people, and as a result, brought massive chaos to the order of state affairs and led to the impeachment of the president, which was unprecedented," judge Kim Se-yoon said as he handed down the sentence.

 

The court ruled that Park colluded with her old friend, Choi Soon-sil, to receive 23.1 billion won from major conglomerates including Samsung and Lotte to help Choi's family and bankroll non-profit foundations owned by her.

 

Prosecutors sought a 30-year sentence and a 118.5 billion won ($112 million) fine for Park.

 

Park, 66, who has been in jail since March 31 last year, has denied wrongdoing and was not present in court.

 

The judge said Park had shown "no sign of repentance" but had instead tried to sift the blame to Choi and her secretaries.

 

"We cannot help but sternly hold her accountable," Kim said.

 

Friday's sentence dealt a bitter blow for Park, who returned to the presidential palace in 2012 as the country's first woman leader, more than three decades after she left it following the assassination of her father.

 

Her ouster from office last year led to a presidential election won by the liberal Moon Jae-in, whose conciliatory stand on North Korea has underpinned a significant warming of ties between the rival neighbours.

 

Moon's office said Park's fate was "heartbreaking" not only for herself but the nation.

 

More than 200 supporters gathered outside the court, holding national flags and signs calling for an end to "political revenge" against Park.

 

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin and Heekyong Yang; Additional reporting by Soyoung Kim and Christine Kim; Editing by Robert Birsel)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-04-06

19 minutes ago, webfact said:

South Korean court jails Park for 24 years for bribery

No same same Thailand!

Thailand take note this is how a country makes progress crooks need to go to jail 

And the toad is gonna get off free ...
Shame on you, Thai justice!

33 minutes ago, HenryPattaya said:

Thailand take note this is how a country makes progress crooks need to go to jail 

I think the US need to take note much more than Thailand.

This is justice, yes, 24 years prison term. Park Geun-hye and her party did serious damage to South Korea. I'm so happy for South Korea that her and her party are no longer in charge of South Korea.
And I hope the voters will remember this, and not let them back in power for the next ten years.

It will never happen in Thailand.

16 hours ago, webfact said:

 webs of corruption between political leaders and the country's conglomerates.

Here that's not a scandal that's the system. A perfect description of how Thailand works. 

Off topic deflection posts and the replies have been removed.

And Park Geun-hye didn't flee to Dubai , or the UK , or Japan , ...

2 hours ago, BuaBS said:

And Park Geun-hye didn't flee to Dubai , or the UK , or Japan , ...

She had been in detention for about a year. Not much opportunity to flee.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/30/south-korea-park-geun-hye-arrest-warrant

 

5 hours ago, Srikcir said:

She had been in detention for about a year. Not much opportunity to flee.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/30/south-korea-park-geun-hye-arrest-warrant

 

If she lived in Thailand , she would have been aided to "flee" the country.  Prayut should go to South Korea to learn something.