Prosecution pushes for 30-year jail term for ex-South Korean president Park

Prosecution pushes for 30-year jail term for ex-South Korean president Park

Park Geun-hye.(Yonhap/IANS)

Seoul, July 20 (IANS) South Korean prosecutors asked a Seoul appeals court on Friday to sentence former President Park Geun-hye to 30 years in prison over a set of corruption charges that led to her impeachment.

Park was sentenced to 24 years in jail by a court on April 6, Xinhua news agency reported.

The prosecutors also demanded Park be fined $104 million on Park. She was earlier fined $16 million.

Park was accused of colluding with her long-time confidante, Choi Soon-sil, also in custody, to force big conglomerates, including Samsung Group, to donate $68.2 million to two non-profit foundations controlled by Choi.

She was also charged with taking $38.2 million in bribes from Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong in exchange for helping him inherit management control from his ailing father, Chairman Lee Kun-hee.

Park has not appeared in court for hearings since October 2017, calling her trials politically motivated.

The ruling is scheduled for August 24.

--IANS

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