EX-KOREAN PRESIDENT SENTENCED TO PRISON
Park receives 24-year term for corruption
TOKYO • Former South Korean president Park Geunhye was Friday sentenced to 24 years in prison — effectively for the rest of the 66-year-old’s life — after being found guilty of charges including bribery, coercion and abuse of power.
The heavy sentence completed the sensational fall from grace for a political princess who became South Korea’s first female leader, but then went on to become its first president to be impeached when she was ejected from office a year ago.
In a first for South Korea, the sentencing was broadcast live on television — a sign of the intense public interest in the case. But Park, who continues to strongly deny any wrongdoing, has boycotted the court for the last six months and refused to attend Friday’s sentencing.
For many South Koreans, who took to the streets by the hundreds of thousands to oust Park, the case starkly illustrated widespread feelings that the system is stacked against them and that only the rich and wellconnected can get ahead. That feeling has only grown with the arrest of Park’s predecessor on unrelated corruption charges.
Together, the cases have added new momentum to efforts to revise South Korea’s constitution and dilute the power of the presidency.
In a damning verdict delivered Friday, three judges in the Seoul Central District Court found Park guilty on 16 of the 18 charges levelled against her, including bribery, abuse of power, coercion and leaking government secrets.
The judges found Park guilty of planning an elaborate extortion scheme with her confidante, Choi Soonsil — allegations that she has strongly denied. Numerous supporters of Park’s gathered outside the court before the sentencing, waving both South Korean and American flags, to protest against her prosecution.
“Park, denying all of the charges, did not appear to be remorseful about her wrongdoings,” said Kim Se-yoon, the lead judge in the case. “We must hold her accountable to stop such an unfortunate case involving a president’s abuse of power from dragging the country into turmoil again.”
Judges sentenced Park to 24 years in jail and fined her US$17 million.
“The main blame ... lies with former president Park herself,” Kim said. “She neglected her constitutional responsibilities and shared her power with a private citizen.”
In February, Choi was sentenced to 20 years in prison and also fined $17 million for her role in the scheme.
She was accused of setting up two charitable foundations ostensibly to promote sports, but in fact using them as slush funds for the president and for herself. She and Park were accused of extracting bribes or promises of bribes totalling $70 million from conglomerates including Samsung and from big businesses in return for favourable treatment from Park’s government.
Prosecutors had been asking for a 30-year prison sentence and a fine of about $120 million to be imposed.
Experts said the harsh sentence was justified.
“The 24-year sentence, which is more than double the usual sentence for a murder charge in our country, may appear heavy on the surface,” said Lee Changhyun, a law professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. “However, considering that the entire population of South Korea is affected by her crime, this seemingly heavy sentence is actually reasonable.”
Park was not present in the court, having refused to attend court hearings since last October.
Experts hope that this case will contribute to the end of the corruption that has plagued South Korea.
“I hope that this trial will provide a good opportunity to sever the lingering negative legacy of collusion between political power and big business,” said Kang Wontaek, a political scientist at Seoul National University.
While this scandal has been roiling South Korea, another former president has found himself in hot water.
Former conservative president Lee Myung-bak, Park’s predecessor, was arrested last month on a raft of charges including bribery, embezzlement, tax evasion, abuse of power and breach of trust.