South Korea: Ousted President Sentenced to 24 Years

News

A South Korean court found former President Park Guen-Hye guilty of bribery, coercion and power abuse and sent her behind bars for 24 years in a landmark ruling meant to send a message to future leaders, CNN reported Friday.

April 6th, 2018
Justice System Murder

"The President abused the power which was given to her by the citizens," the judge said. She also received a fine of US$17 million.

Conservative and older South Koreans had gathered outside the court to support Park. Her electoral base remembers the time when her father, who is often called a dictator, ruled the country as a period of strength.

South Korea has been in turmoil since 2016 when it was revealed how much adviser and close confidant Choi Soon-sil wielded power over Park. The revelations lead to millions taking to the streets.

Following the nation-wide protests last year, a vote by the National Assembly and a unanimous decision by the Constitutional Court lead to Park’s impeachment over helping Choi.

Two weeks after her impeachment on March 10, Park was arrested.

Choi Soon-sil is accused of influencing Park to move money into organizations under her control and getting her daughter into an elite university. Choi was given a 20-year jail sentence along with a $16.6 million fine in February for abuse of power, coercion, fraud and bribery.

Businessmen Shin Dong-bin, chairman of conglomerate Lotte, and Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Group, were also implicated in the scandal and were both charged with bribery.

Choi is the daughter of a cult leader, who – as stated in a leaked 2007 US diplomatic cable – had “complete control over Park’s body and soul during her formative years.”

Park was Korea’s first female president and the first president to be ousted. Her father, Park Chung-hee, orchestrated a military coup in 1961 and ruled Korea as a dictator who brutally crushed dissidents and opposition.

His supporters hailed him as someone who had rebuilt the country after the Korean War.

As he assumed power, 10-year old Park moved into the Blue House and when her mother was killed in a failed assassination attempt on the president, she took the role of the first lady.

That’s also when she fell under the influence of cult leader Choi Tae-min, which raised questions.

Her father was killed five years later and Park withdrew for a while but entered the political scene again in the 1990s after witnessing the effects of Asia’s economic crisis.