South Korea’s first female president Park Geun-hye was on Friday sentenced to 24 years imprisonment during a court session that was beamed live. The former president was convicted of abuse of power, bribery and coercion, and leaking of state secrets. The sentencing brings to a close a scandal that rocked the Asian nation and affected some business leaders, including Samsung’s.
Park, who had been remanded since March 2017, was impeached last year after a Rasputin-like conspiracy was discovered at the upper levels of government. The scandal led to weeks of stret protests that became tagged the Candlelight Revolution.
Park colluded with her long-time friend Choi Soon-sil to solicit bribes from South Korean conglomerates including Samsung and retail giant Lotte in exchange for policy favours.
Choi was in February jailed for 20 years for using her influence to gain favour and enrich herself, while the heads of Samsung and Lotte were both given shorter prison sentences.
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