Former South Korean president Park Geun-hye bags 24 years jail term for corruption

Disgraced South Korea’s former president Park Geun-hye was on Friday jailed for 24 years for corruption, closing out a dramatic fall from grace for the country’s first woman leader who became a figure of public fury and ridicule.

The sentence followed a trial lasting more than 10 months which ended with Park being found guilty on multiple criminal charges, including bribery and abuse of power.

The amount of bribery the accused received or demanded in collaboration with Choi amounts to more than 23 billion won ($21.7 million), said Judge Kim Se-Yoon referring to Park’s secret confidante and long-time friend Choi Soon-sil.

I sentence the accused to 24 years in prison and 18 billion won in fines.

Park, 66, had boycotted most of the trial in protest at being held in custody. She was not present in court for Friday’s judgement which, in a rare move, was broadcast live on television.