Ex-South Korean President Park Sentenced to 8 More Years in Jail

Local Editor

Earlier in April, the Seoul Central District Court has sentenced former South Korean President Park Geun-hye to 24 years in prison.

A South Korean court sentenced disgraced former president Park Geun-hye to eight years in prison for embezzling state funds and interference in party activities, Yonhap News Agency reports.

According to the court's decision, the former head of state was sentenced to six years in prison for receiving funds from the budget of the National Intelligence Agency of South Korea.

The court added two years to her sentence for illegally participating in the nomination of candidates for elections from the ruling party during her presidency.

The court also ruled that the ex-president, who is already serving a 24-year prison term over corruption scandal which led to her impeachment, should be fined 3.3 billion won ($2.9 million), according to the Yonhap news agency.

As the penalties apply consecutively now she faces a total of 32 years in prison.

The political scandal around Park broke out in October 2016, when she was accused of having allowed her longtime friend and close associate Choi Soon-sil, who did not hold any official post, to get involved in state affairs. She was also accused of being complicit in Choi's extortion of $54.9 million from big conglomerates, including Samsung, in exchange for business favors.

The scandal led to Park's impeachment in December 2016. During the court hearings, South Korean prosecutors demanded that the former president be sentenced to 30 years in jail and asked the court to fine her $110 million.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team