Friday December 24th 2021
Corruption scandal in South Korea
Ex-President Park dismissed early
Former South Korean President Park Geun Hye has been sentenced to a long prison term for serious allegations of corruption. At the end of the year the government is now announcing an amnesty for the 69-year-old and wants to set an example: For more “national unity and harmony”.
Almost a year and a half after former South Korean President Park Geun Hye was sentenced to 20 years in prison for corruption, the conservative politician was released early. Park, 69, was on a list of 3,094 convicted offenders for whom the Justice Department has announced an amnesty.
Park was involved in a major corruption scandal during her tenure. She was removed from office by the Constitutional Court in 2017. Her successor is the socially liberal Moon Jae In. The amnesty and pardon for Park were intended to serve national unity and harmony and to herald “the beginning of a new era,” said the Moons office. In the Parks case, her poor health was also taken into account, which had deteriorated during her prison term. Park, currently in a hospital, is slated to be officially released before the end of the year. The amnesty only comes about three months before the next presidential election in South Korea. Moon cannot be re-elected after serving five years.
A total of 22 years imprisonment
The Park scandal shook the country deeply and led to street protests that lasted for months. After her impeachment, Park was arrested and charged with abuse of power, corruption, coercion and other charges. In January of this year, the Supreme Court upheld Parks’ sentence to 20 years in prison. Overall, Park’s sentences totaled 22 years. She was sentenced to another two years’ imprisonment for violating election laws.
The South Koreans elected the daughter of the former military dictator Park Chung Hee as the country’s first woman in late 2012. Park’s predecessor Lee Myung Bak is also serving a long prison sentence for corruption. Unlike Park, however, he was not on the amnesty list. The ruling Democratic Party had repeatedly brought up the possibility of a pardon for both ex-heads of state. A pardon for the two was controversial in the population.