2019-8-29
Seoul - South Korea's top court (click here) on Thursday ordered the review of the appellate court's rulings on the bribery case of impeached and ousted President Park Geun-hye, involving Park's longtime friend Choi Soon-sil and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong.
The Supreme Court returned the case to the appeals court, saying the bribery case, involving Park, should be ruled separately from other charges, including abuse of power and coercion, under the election law.
The separate rulings raise a possibility for the impeached president to face a heavier punishment.
Park was sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined 20 billion won (17 million US dollars) in August last year by an appeals court, which raised the lower court's sentence of the 24-year imprisonment....
...The corruption scandal disclosed the country's inveterate collusive ties between politicians and businessmen, under which large conglomerates grew rapidly but distorted order of the market economy, eventually causing loss to the entire economy.
All the defendants did not appear in court for the rulings. Park refused to attend any court hearings since October 2017, calling the trial a political revenge.
Park was impeached by lawmakers in December 2016. The Constitutional Court upheld the parliament's decision in March 2017, making her the first South Korean leader to be impeached by the National Assembly.
Seoul - South Korea's top court (click here) on Thursday ordered the review of the appellate court's rulings on the bribery case of impeached and ousted President Park Geun-hye, involving Park's longtime friend Choi Soon-sil and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong.
The Supreme Court returned the case to the appeals court, saying the bribery case, involving Park, should be ruled separately from other charges, including abuse of power and coercion, under the election law.
The separate rulings raise a possibility for the impeached president to face a heavier punishment.
Park was sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined 20 billion won (17 million US dollars) in August last year by an appeals court, which raised the lower court's sentence of the 24-year imprisonment....
...The corruption scandal disclosed the country's inveterate collusive ties between politicians and businessmen, under which large conglomerates grew rapidly but distorted order of the market economy, eventually causing loss to the entire economy.
All the defendants did not appear in court for the rulings. Park refused to attend any court hearings since October 2017, calling the trial a political revenge.
Park was impeached by lawmakers in December 2016. The Constitutional Court upheld the parliament's decision in March 2017, making her the first South Korean leader to be impeached by the National Assembly.
