Park who refused to participate in her trial since October, has one week to appeal the verdict.
SEOUL — Former South Korean leader Park Geun-hye was sentenced to 24 years in prison and fined almost $17 million Friday, the culmination of a stunning fall from grace for the nation’s first female president.
The sentence, handed down at Seoul Central District Court, appeared to be the final chapter in a corruption investigation that began in 2016. The scandal surrounding Park and her closest confidante would ultimately ensnare several of South Korea’s top officials and business leaders in a web of bribery and graft.
Park was impeached by lawmakers in December 2016 following months of massive street protests. A criminal trial was launched in May 2017, and Park was found guilty of 16 corruption-related counts, including bribery, coercion and abuse of power.
Prosecutors had requested a 30-year sentence.
Business leaders from powerful Korean conglomerates Samsung and Lotte were also tried and convicted during the course of the Park’s trial, as was her confidante, Choi Soon-sil, a longtime friend of Park who used her tremendous influence over the president to enrich herself and her family.
