[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The final verdict in the trial of former President Park Geun-hye’s ‘state affairs manipulation’ case will be announced on the 14th.
It has been 4 years and 3 months since the tablet PC of Choi Seo-won (formerly Choi Soon-sil) was revealed in October 2016, sparking the state affairs manipulation scandal, and 3 years and 9 months since former President Park was brought to trial.
The Supreme Court’s 3rd Division (Presiding Justice No Tae-ak) will hold the sentencing hearing for the retrial of former President Park’s charges of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes at 11:15 a.m. in Courtroom No. 2.
Former President Park, who was detained in March 2017 due to the state affairs manipulation case, was indicted in April of the same year along with Choi on charges including abuse of power and coercion for forcing large corporations to make contributions to the Mir and K-Sports Foundations.
In July last year, in the retrial, former President Park was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 18 billion won for bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, and 5 years in prison for other charges. She was also ordered to pay a fine of 3.5 billion won.
This was a significant reduction compared to the 30-year prison sentence, 20 billion won fine, and 2.7 billion won fine imposed in the appellate trial before the retrial. This was because some charges of coercion and abuse of power were overturned as not guilty, in line with the retrial’s purpose to separate the bribery charges under the special law.
Former President Park did not file a further appeal against this retrial verdict, but the prosecution’s appeal led to the Supreme Court reviewing the case again.
However, since the Supreme Court has already made a ruling on the appeal and the retrial was conducted according to the Supreme Court’s intent, it is highly likely that the retrial’s judgment will be upheld in the final appeal.
If the Supreme Court confirms the retrial’s sentence of 20 years in prison on this day, former President Park will have a total confirmed sentence of 22 years in prison, including the 2-year sentence previously confirmed for violating the Public Official Election Act.
Article 3, Clause 1 of the Amnesty Act stipulates that the subject of special amnesty is ‘those who have been sentenced.’
Therefore, if former President Park’s sentence is finalized, attention will focus on whether discussions on special amnesty will reignite.
Earlier this year, Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, mentioned the amnesty of former Presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, but the discussion was effectively halted after backlash both inside and outside the party.
Yesterday, Choi Jae-sung, Senior Secretary for Political Affairs at the Blue House, stated in a radio interview, “Amnesty is the president’s inherent authority, but this authority is power entrusted by the people. It is difficult to think of it without the word ‘people.’” He added, “Decisions should be made from the people’s perspective, and there is no need for political disputes, nor should there be.”
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