Grim Park has her day in court

EX-PRESIDENT IN HANDCUFFS, NO MAKE-UP ‘Park is not a person who could be lured by any bribes,’ sobbing friend tells judge.

South Korea’s ousted president Park Geun-Hye, grim-faced and brought to court in handcuffs, went on trial yesterday over a corruption scandal that saw millions take to the streets and led to her downfall.

Only two months after leaving the presidential palace in disgrace, Park appeared at the Seoul Central District Court with a badge bearing her prisoner number pinned to her blue trouser suit, and no make-up.

She avoided meeting the glance of her longtime secret confidante and co-accused Choi Soon-Sil.

The trial, expected to last for months, is the final act in the drama that engulfed Park, the daughter of a dictator who went on to be elected president herself before being sacked by the country’s top court.

Presiding Judge Kim Se-Yun, who heads a three-man panel – there is no jury – asked her: “What is your occupation, the accused Park Geun-Hye?” She responded: “I don’t have any occupation.”

Park, 65, is the third former South Korean leader to stand trial for corruption.

She was impeached by parliament in December after mass demonstrations – fuelled by economic and social frustrations – demanding her removal over a scandal centred on Choi, her friend of 40 years, and implicating some of the country’s top businesspersons.

Park was detained soon after her dismissal – yesterday’s court session was her first public appearance since then – and indicted on 18 charges, including bribery, coercion and abuse of power for offering governmental favours to tycoons.

The trial could shed new light on the links between Park and the bosses of the family-run conglomerates that dominate Asia’s fourth-biggest economy. They include Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong, who is being tried separately.

On her most serious count, Park is accused of taking or seeking bribes totalling 59.2 billion won (R686 million) for Choi or herself, most of which went to non-profit foundations which Choi controlled.

Half-sobbing, Choi herself told the court: “I feel very sorry for causing President Park to stand trial like this. President Park is not a person who could be lured by any bribes.”

If convicted, Park faces a minimum sentence of 10 years in jail, and a maximum of life. – AFP