Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, has been found guilty of abuse of power and bribery and jailed for 24 years.
The Seoul Central District Court pronounced both the guilty verdict and sentencing on live television.
Park, the daughter of assassinated dictator Park Chung-hee, faced a total of 18 charges. The court ruled that Park colluded with her old friend, Choi Soon-sil, to receive tens of billions of won from major conglomerates such as Samsung and Lotte to help Choi’s family and fund non-profit foundations owned by her.
Prosecutors sought a 30-year sentence and a 118.5 billion won ($112 million) fine for Park, after indicting her on charges that included bribery, abuse of power and coercion.
Park was impeached and arrested in March 2017.
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