The Supreme Court of South Korea ordered on Thursday that former President Park Geun-hye be put on retrial for accepting unlisted funds from the country's intelligence agency, instructing Seoul High Court to reverse previous acquittals on corruption charges, South Korean media reported
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th November, 2019) The Supreme Court of South Korea ordered on Thursday that former President Park Geun-hye be put on retrial for accepting unlisted funds from the country's intelligence agency, instructing Seoul High Court to reverse previous acquittals on corruption charges, South Korean media reported.According to the Yonhap news agency, the country's highest court questioned the legality of the appellate court's July decision to reduce Park's jail term in the National Intelligence Service fund scandal from five years to just one.
Apart from reducing the prison sentence, the Seoul High Court had also lowered the former president's fine by 600 million won ($508,800) to 2.7 billion won and charged her for embezzlement instead of the loss of state fund, the media outlet said.
The news agency added that the length of Park's prison term would increase with the retrial order.
Park was impeached in 2016 due to a political scandal involving her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil. Park was charged with forcing major corporations, including Samsung, to donate to foundations controlled by Choi, taking bribes, and forcing companies to sign contracts beneficial for Choi and her associates.
In 2018, Park was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being charged with bribery, coercion, abuse of power and leaking government secrets.
