A South Korean court on Friday sentenced former President Park Geun-hye to eight more years in prison after she was convicted of corruption charges including illegally receiving funds from the country’s spy agency, AFP reported. Park, 66, is already serving a jail term of 24 years for abuse of power, corruption and bribery.
The Seoul Central District Court ruled that Park had caused a loss of about 30 billion won in government funds from the National Intelligence Service, Reuters reported. She was also found guilty of interfering in a 2016 parliamentary election. The judge ordered a fine of 33 billion won.
“Park’s private use of the funds weakened the principles of executing government funds, and barred the country’s chief spy agency from using the funds for its core duty of protecting the country and the people,” judge Seong Chang-ho said, according to Reuters.
Park has boycotted court hearings and claimed innocence, alleging that trials against her have been politically motivated.
Park was accused of colluding with her long-time friend and confidante Choi Soon-sil to extort money in the form of donations from South Korean companies. The money, which was transferred to non-profit foundations controlled by Soon-sil, was allegedly used for personal gains.
The daughter of assassinated dictator Park Chung-hee, Park took office in 2013 as a conservative leader and projected herself as the daughter of the nation. She is the nation’s first elected head of state to be ousted, and the third former leader to be convicted of corruption.
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