Prosecutors demand 25-year jail term for Park's crony in appeals court trial

By Lim Chang-won Posted : June 15, 2018, 13:50 Updated : June 15, 2018, 13:50

[Yonhap Photo]


SEOUL -- In a final appeals court hearing on Friday, prosecutors demanded a 25-year jail sentence for the crony of South Korea's jailed ex-president Park Geun-hye on charges of causing a state crisis by controlling government affairs arbitrarily for her personal interests.

In February, a lower court sentenced Choi Soon-sil to 20 years in prison for coercing business leaders to make illegal donations. She was also slapped with a fine of 18 billion won ($16.6 million).

Two months later, Park was given a 24-year jail sentence as a key culprit behind a corruption scandal that revealed deep-rooted collusive ties between businessmen and politicians. She was found guilty of abusing her power to extort money from businessmen.

In Friday's hearing at the High Court in Seoul, prosecutors called for tougher punishment. "It is a case of long-term cohesive ties between the president and the successor of a conglomerate," prosecutors said in a statement, demanding Choi should receive a longer jail sentence for taking bribes from Samsung.

Choi was arrested in November 2016 for meddling in state affairs, siphoning off money from two public foundations created with cash donations from dozens of conglomerates. She has been at the center of a corruption scandal that sparked massive demonstrations.

Choi and Park were accused of cooperating to accept bribes from Samsung, but the lower court ruled that it is difficult to say that Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee bribed them for "explicit or implicit" favors to facilitate the transfer of group leadership from his ailing father.

Lee was arrested in February last year and received a five-year jail sentence for embezzling company funds to bribe Choi. He was released in February this year after the High Court suspended his sentence. The scandal fanned public sentiment against corporate donations, which have long been a controversial issue in South Korea.
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