South Korea’s Ex-President Gets 8 Years Added To Her 24 Year Jail Term

Former South Korean President, Park Geun-hye, who was hitherto jailed for 24 years on corruption charges, has been slammed with an additional eight-year jail term for receiving bribe from the country’s National Intelligence Service (NIS).

A Seoul Central District Court gave the verdict on Friday after a separate trial on the allegation that she received bribe from the NIS and unlawfully intervened in 2016 selection of a parliamentary candidate for her party.

Geun-Hye was sentenced to six years for taking ?3.3billion ($2.9 million) from NIS, and two years for the electoral offence. The terms are to be served consecutively. On April 6, she was sentenced to 24 years imprisonment for abuse of power, bribery and coercion.

This implies that the ex-President will now be serving 32 years in jail. “The accused received some ?3billion over three years from the three NIS chiefs,” the presiding judge said. “Through this crime, the accused incurred a considerable amount of loss to the state treasury.”

Three former NIS chiefs testified they had funnelled the funds to Park on her orders, the court said. The judge rebuked Park, who denied the charges, for being “uncooperative” throughout the court hearing and for questioning by prosecutors. Geun-hye is the first female President of South Korea. She was impeached in 2017 after huge street protests over a sprawling scandal.