Supreme Court to Deliver Final Verdict on 'State Affairs Manipulation' Case of Choi Seo-won and Ahn Jong-beom at 10 AM Today

Choi Soon-sil. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Choi Seo-won (formerly Choi Soon-sil), the key figure in the 'state affairs manipulation' scandal during the Park Geun-hye administration, is set to face the final judgment of the law.

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Ahn Cheol-sang) will hold a final appeal hearing on the morning of the 11th for Choi, who was indicted on charges including abuse of power and obstruction of the exercise of rights, and deliver a verdict. Sentences for former Blue House Policy Coordination Secretary Ahn Jong-beom, who was indicted alongside Choi, will also be announced.

Choi was indicted on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of the exercise of rights for conspiring with former President Park Geun-hye and former Secretary Ahn to coerce member companies of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) to contribute 77.4 billion won to the Mir and K-Sports Foundations.

She is also accused of conspiring with former President Park and receiving hundreds of billions of won in bribes from Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, including support for her daughter Jeong Yoo-ra's equestrian training, foundation contributions, and funding for the Korea Winter Sports Gifted Center.

The first trial sentenced Choi to 20 years in prison, a fine of 18 billion won, and confiscation of approximately 7.2 billion won. The second trial maintained the 20-year prison sentence but increased the fine to 20 billion won, while reducing the confiscation to about 7 billion won.

However, last year the Supreme Court remanded the case to the Seoul High Court, ruling that some of the charges against Choi should be acquitted. It judged that the demand for gifted center support from Vice Chairman Lee and Samsung could not be considered coercion.

Following the Supreme Court's remand, the retrial reduced Choi's sentence to 18 years in prison, maintained the fine at 20 billion won, and lowered the confiscation to approximately 6.3 billion won.

Meanwhile, ahead of this verdict, Choi published a prison memoir titled "Who Am I." It is known that she wrote the memoir intermittently while incarcerated.

In the author introduction of the memoir, Choi wrote, "Having overcome the sorrow of losing my mother, I developed respect for former President Park Geun-hye as I witnessed her faithfully assisting President Park Chung-hee and leading the New Mind Movement for national unity. I was close to former President Park Geun-hye," and added, "Meeting former President Park Geun-hye brought me various hardships and trials during each administration."