Supreme Court Confirms 18-Year Sentence for Choi Seo-won, 'Privileged Insider' in State Affairs Manipulation... Special Prosecutor Calls It "Appropriate Punishment" (Comprehensive Report 2)

Former Cheong Wa Dae Chief Ahn Jong-beom Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison
Supreme Court Upholds Original Verdict
Closing Steps in State Manipulation Trial
Park Geun-hye's Retrial Scheduled for Next Month 10
Lee Jae-yong's Trial Delayed Due to Recusal
Significant Time Expected Until Final Verdict
Choi Seo-won's Side Calls It a "Typical Wrongful Judgment"

Choi Soon-sil, the 'shadowy power' of the Park Geun-hye administration who received a heavy sentence of 20 years in prison in the first trial for the state corruption scandal, is seen on the morning of June 15 last year getting off the transport vehicle and heading to the courtroom at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, to attend the continuation of the appeal trial. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Choi Seo-won (formerly Choi Soon-sil), the main culprit of the 'state affairs manipulation' scandal during the Park Geun-hye administration, has been finally sentenced to 18 years in prison.

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Ahn Cheol-sang) on the morning of the 11th upheld the previous ruling sentencing Choi to 18 years in prison, a fine of 20 billion KRW, and a confiscation of 6,336,760,000 KRW on charges including abuse of power. Former Blue House Policy Coordination Secretary Ahn Jong-beom, who was tried alongside Choi, was also confirmed to receive 4 years in prison, a fine of 60 million KRW, and a confiscation of 19.9 million KRW.

The court stated regarding the appeals filed by Choi and former Secretary Ahn, who opposed the original ruling after the case was remanded, that "the matters have already acquired finality and cannot be disputed further, thus the appeals are not valid."

Accordingly, the trials of Choi and former Secretary Ahn, key figures in the state affairs manipulation scandal, have been finalized. On the 1300th day since her initial indictment, Choi received the Supreme Court's final verdict. Choi was indicted on November 20, 2016, on charges including abuse of power for conspiring with former President Park Geun-hye and former Secretary Ahn to coerce member companies of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) to donate 77.4 billion KRW to the Mir and K-Sports Foundations. She was also accused of receiving hundreds of millions of KRW in bribes from Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, including support for his daughter Jung Yoo-ra's equestrian training, foundation donations, and funding for the Korea Winter Sports Talent Center.

The first trial sentenced Choi to 20 years in prison, a fine of 18 billion KRW, and confiscation of over 7.2 billion KRW. The second trial maintained the 20-year prison sentence but increased the fine to 20 billion KRW, while reducing the confiscation to over 7 billion KRW. However, last year the Supreme Court remanded the case to the Seoul High Court, ruling that some of the charges against Choi should be acquitted, specifically that the demand for support of the Talent Center from Lee and Samsung could not be considered coercion. Following the Supreme Court's remand, the retrial reduced Choi's sentence to 18 years in prison, maintained the fine at 20 billion KRW, and lowered the confiscation to approximately 6.3 billion KRW.

Former President Park Geun-hye was sentenced to 24 years in prison in the first trial and 25 years in the second trial, but her case was also remanded by the Supreme Court and is currently undergoing a retrial scheduled for sentencing on the 10th of next month. The trial of Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, another major suspect in the state affairs manipulation scandal, is delayed due to a request for recusal of the presiding judges.

Even if Lee's trial proceeds, predicting the sentencing date is difficult. The witness examination and other procedural hearings have not been completed, and even if the recusal request is resolved, there is a high possibility of appeal. Therefore, a considerable amount of time will inevitably be required before the Supreme Court's final ruling. Lee was sentenced to 5 years in prison in the first trial and 2 years and 6 months with a 4-year suspended sentence in the second trial, but the Supreme Court later remanded the case.

From Lee's perspective, considering the prosecution of the Samsung Biologics accounting fraud case, he may face two trials simultaneously. The prosecution suspects that the Samsung Biologics accounting fraud case was the 'final puzzle' to complete Lee's succession process and is investigating accordingly.

Meanwhile, regarding the Supreme Court ruling on Choi and former Secretary Ahn, Special Prosecutor Park Young-soo stated, "It is meaningful that through long-term investigations and trials by the special prosecutor and prosecution, the substantial truth of the state affairs manipulation allegations by civilians such as Choi Seo-won has been revealed and appropriate punishment has been confirmed."

He added, "The special prosecutor respects the Supreme Court ruling and will do its best to maintain the prosecution against bribery providers such as Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, whose retrial is currently ongoing in accordance with the Supreme Court's final ruling."

On the other hand, Lee Kyung-jae, a lawyer from the Northeast Asia Law Firm representing Choi, met with reporters immediately after the sentencing and said, "Although the trial lasted 3 years and 7 months, it resulted in an unfair heavy sentence for Ms. Choi," and dismissed the ruling as "a typical example of a wrongful judgment that will always be cited."

He continued, "The state affairs manipulation scandal was an incident triggered by temporary public opinion stirred up by propaganda and agitation to overthrow the Park Geun-hye administration," and said, "We will take a long-term approach and strive to reveal the truth in the court of history."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.