"Choi Soon-sil Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison: 'The Law Is Equal Before All... Why Not Cho Kuk?'" (Comprehensive)

Prosecution: "No remorse since the crime"
Choi Soon-sil: "Don't know why Cho Kuk protects current government"
"Want to care for grandson and daughter and heal in remaining life"
"Hope this becomes a historic milestone"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The prosecution has demanded a 25-year prison sentence for Choi Seo-won (formerly Choi Soon-sil), who was tried in the state affairs manipulation scandal, during the retrial after remand.

On the 22nd, the prosecution requested this sentence at the final hearing of Choi's retrial after remand, held under the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 6 (Presiding Judge Oh Seok-jun). They also demanded a fine of 30 billion KRW and a confiscation of 7,052,810,000 KRW. The prosecution stated, "A civilian manipulated state affairs for private gain and received large bribes over a long period," adding, "She has not shown remorse from the time of the crime, including involvement in bribery receipt by the giver and evidence destruction, up to the present."

The prosecution also demanded a 6-year prison sentence, a fine of 60 million KRW, and a confiscation of 19.9 million KRW for former Blue House economic chief An Jong-beom, who was indicted alongside Choi. The prosecution explained, "It has been confirmed that he received bribes and conspired with Choi to be involved in foundation donations and supply contracts," but added, "Regarding other matters besides bribery, the defendant did not pursue private gain."

In his closing argument, Choi's defense attorney criticized the prosecution's sentencing request by quoting German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. He said, "Nietzsche said, 'There are no facts, only interpretations.' I do not agree with this, but I think the prosecution's opinion follows this logic." The defense attorney further stated that Choi should be acquitted of bribery charges. He argued, "The defendant is not a de facto power holder who manipulated state affairs as a non-official figure," and claimed, "The bribery charges are a strategy by North Korea that led to the collapse of the Park Geun-hye administration."

In her final statement, Choi expressed her grievances by mentioning former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk. She said, "The law is equal before everyone, but I do not understand why the current government protects the family of former Minister Cho Kuk to such an extent," adding, "During the investigation of my family, they downgraded academic records to middle school level and took away gold medals earned through ability." She continued, "It is unfair to be sentenced to 20 years based on fabricated fake news that started as a planned manipulation and was pushed by public opinion," and added, "I am not unrepentant but wronged." Choi also pleaded, "I do not know how much life I have left, but I earnestly ask to be given time to give love to my grandson and healing to my young daughter," and requested, "I sincerely ask that this trial be made a milestone in a historic case."

Choi was arrested and indicted on 18 charges, including the forced collection of donations to the Mir and K-Sports Foundations, which triggered the state affairs manipulation scandal. She is accused of conspiring with former President Park Geun-hye and former Blue House policy coordination chief An Jong-beom to coerce major domestic companies into donating to the foundations. She is also accused of receiving bribes worth approximately 8.6 billion KRW from Samsung under the pretext of equestrian support for her daughter Jung Yoo-ra.

Previously, the second trial sentenced her to 20 years in prison and a fine of 20 billion KRW on charges including bribery. However, the Supreme Court's Grand Bench overturned the case in August last year and sent it back to the Seoul High Court. Choi's side requested that former President Park Geun-hye, Choi's daughter Jung Yoo-ra, former Samsung Electronics president Park Sang-jin, and JTBC president Sohn Suk-hee be summoned as witnesses during the retrial after remand, but the court did not accept the request. The court concluded the hearing on this third trial date, stating that the bribery charges, which were recognized as guilty along with other charges such as bribery receipt and abuse of power, were not of significant weight. The court scheduled Choi's sentencing hearing for the afternoon of the 14th of next month.