South Korean appeals court raises ex-President Park's jail term to 25 years

Former President Park Geun-hye appears at Seoul District Court in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, in September 2017, to attend a hearing on corruption charges against her. Park has boycotted her court hearings since last October. A high court Friday raised her jail term to 25 years from 24 years given by a local court. /Korea Times file

Court recognizes additional bribes tied to Samsung

By Lee Suh-yoon

A Seoul appeals court has sentenced former President Park Geun-hye to 25 years in jail and 20 billion won ($17.8 million) in fines, adding one year more to a lower court ruling after recognizing additional bribes tied to Samsung.

An icon of the conservative bloc, Park, 66, was ousted from power last year, following mass protests against her government's collusive ties to big businesses. In April, a local court sentenced her to 24 years in jail and 18 billion won on charges of bribery and power abuse in her dealings with big conglomerates.

In Friday's ruling, the Seoul High Court recognized as bribes an additional 1.6 billion won that Samsung “donated” to the Korea Winter Sports Elite Center, one of the foundations controlled by Park's confidant Choi Soon-sil.

Lee Jae-yong, the heir apparent and de facto head of Samsung Group, gave the donations with the intent of gaining the administration's support for his succession plan, the court said.

According to the court, just after Lee's meeting with Park where Park requested the donation from Samsung, the former president abused her power over the National Pension Service to indirectly support a merger of two Samsung affiliates to strengthen Lee's control over the group.

“There was a clear give-and-take relationship. Around the time of the meeting between Park and Lee on July 25, 2015, Park and her aides were thinking of helping Lee with his succession plan,” judge Kim Mun-suk said.

“Samsung decided to contribute the money to the center despite knowing it was no ordinary public organization. The money was given without proper review of its purpose.”

A lower court previously regarded the 1.6 billion won as money Park extorted from Samsung rather than a bribe, saying Samsung did not take advantage of the offering.

This brings the total amount of bribes Park received from Samsung to over 8.6 billion won.

Pro-Park protestors rally outside Seoul District Court, Friday, calling for the ex-President's release from jail. /Korea Times photo by Kim Hye-yoon

The court also acknowledged 7 billion won that Lotte Group provided to the K-Sports Foundation ― another organization controlled by Choi ― as a bribe in return for Lotte's “tacit” request for government favor in the group winning a duty free business license.

The ruling signals a red light for Samsung and Lotte, whose leaders are undergoing trials in relation to the scandal.

Lee Jae-yong's sentence was suspended in his appeals ruling in February, as the court recognized only 3.6 billion won as bribes. Friday's ruling is likely to affect the Supreme Court's verdict on Lee.

Friday's ruling marks the latest development in a major corruption scandal that has shaken the country for almost two years.

The court also sentenced Park's confidant Choi to 20 years behind bars ― upholding the lower court ruling ― but raised Choi's fine to 20 billion won from 18 billion won.

The appeals court ruling brings Park's total jail term up to 33 years ― she was sentenced to another eight years last month on separate charges of abusing state funds and violating the election law.