Former South Korean leader Park gets 24 years in prison
SEOUL, South Korea — Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye was convicted and sentenced to 24 years in prison Friday, a year after she was driven from office and arrested over a scandal that saw months of massive street rallies calling for her ouster.
The conviction is the latest indignity for South Korea’s first female president, who grew up in the presidential palace as the daughter of a former dictator and served as first lady after her mother’s assassination.
The heavy sentence is likely to deepen divisions in a country still wrestling with the aftermath of its most serious political turmoil in years.
Once seen as the darling of South Korean conservatives, Park earned the nickname “Queen of Elections” for her record leading her party to victory in tight races, culminating in her own election as president in 2012.
But that wasall undoneby the scandal involving a close confidant and bribery, extortion and other allegations.
Park, 66, maintains she’s a victim of “political revenge” and has been refusing to attend court sessions since October. She didn’t attend Friday’s verdict, citing an illness.
In a nationally televised verdict, the Seoul Central District Court convicted Park of bribery, extortion, abuse of power and other charges.
“It’s inevitable that the defendant should be held strictly responsible for her crimes, if only to prevent the unfortunate event of a president abusing the power granted by the people and throwing state affairs into chaos from happening again,” chief judge Kim Seyun said.
Kim said Park has shown no remorse for her wrongdoing and continued to pass responsibility to others with “unconvincing excuses.”
Along with the prison sentence, Kim said Park was also fined $16.8 million.
Both Park and prosecutors — who had demanded a 30-year sentence — have one week to appeal.
Park’s lawyer, Kang Cheol-gu, called the 24-year prison term “very bad” and said the legal team will decide whether to appeal after confirming her willingness.
The court convicted Park of colluding with longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil to pressure 18 business groups to donate $72.3 million for the launch of two foundations controlled by Choi.
The two women were also convicted of taking bribes from some of those companies, including more than $6.5 million from Samsung.
Prosecutors previously alleged that Samsung’s bribe was aimed at getting government support for a smooth company leadership transition, but the court said there was not enough evidence to prove that Samsung sought such favor from the government.
The court said Park colluded with senior government officials to blacklist artists critical of her government to deny them state assistance programs. Park was also convicted of passing on presidential documents with sensitive information to Choi via one of her presidential aides.
The scandal has already led to the arrests, indictments and convictions of dozens of high-profile government officials and business leaders.
Choi is serving a 20-year prison term; Samsung scion Lee Jae-yong was initially sentenced to five years in prison before his sentence was suspended on appeal; and Lotte chairman Shin Dong-bin was given 21⁄ years in prison.