Prosecutors seek 25-year sentence for Choi Soon-sil

Choi Soon-sil enters the courtroom at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul, Thursday, for her final hearing before the ruling. / Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon

By Jung Min-ho

Prosecutors are seeking a 25-year prison term for Choi Soon-sil, the central figure in the massive corruption scandal that led to the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye.

Special counsel Park Young-soo made the demand Thursday during Choi’s final hearing at the Seoul Central District Court, saying she was the very root of the scandal.

“She was deeply involved in handling state affairs by taking advantage of her friendship with the former president … She is the beginning and the end of the scandal,” the special counsel said. “The two conspired in taking bribes from Samsung in exchange for helping Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong tighten his grip on group management.”

The special counsel said the under-the-table dealings were a typical example of collusion between politics and business.

Park Young-soo also asked leading Judge Kim Se-yun to impose a fine of 118.5 billion won ($109 million) and an additional 7.7 billion won in restitution for her crimes.

For An Chong-bum, a former presidential secretary who played a primary role in bridging the communication between two, the special counsel demanded a six-year sentence and a fine of 100 million won.

For Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, the special counsel demanded four years in prison for allegedly giving a bribe of 7 billion won to them in the name of “donations” to cultural foundations, and a fine of that amount.

“Choi colluded with the former president in using the presidential powers for their personal gains, which inflicted serious damage to our constitutional values,” the prosecution said.

The court is expected to deliver verdicts and sentencing next month, which will also have a bearing on upcoming rulings on the former president.

“Throughout her trial, Choi showed brazen and shameless behavior, criticizing investigators groundlessly and repeatedly,” the special counsel said.

As for An, the special counsel said, “He turned away from his responsibility as a government official and used his power to help the former president.”

Choi and Park Geun-hye conspired in taking 77.4 billion won from conglomerates, including Samsung and Lotte, through two cultural foundations, Mir and K-Sports. An faces charges of orchestrating the scheme.

Not everyone was charged for making “donations.” The prosecution indicted Lee on bribery charges because it found that former President Park pressured the National Pension Service (NPS), a key shareholder of two Samsung units ― Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries ― to vote for their merger in 2015, which was critical for Lee to take control of group management.

On charges of abusing his authority to smooth out the process, Moon Hyung-pyo, who was minister of health and welfare at that time, was already found guilty and given a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

Shin was indicted on bribery charges after the prosecution concluded that he gave money to the K-Sport foundation in return for recovering Lotte’s license to operate a duty-free shop in Seoul.

Choi's lawyer Lee Kyung-jae denied all the charges against her, saying investigators made everything up based on lies.