S. Korea's top court upholds 20-year prison sentence on ex-president Park

SEOUL -- South Korea's top court upheld a 20-year prison sentence on former President Park Geun-hye Thursday in a retrial of the corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of the former head of state.

The Supreme Court sentenced Park to 15 years in prison for bribery and another five years for other charges with a fine of 18 billion won (16.4 million US dollars) and a forfeit of 3.5 billion won (3.2 million US dollars), upholding the high court's ruling in July last year.

It was commuted from the combined sentences of 30 years in jail, handed down by the appellate court in 2019.

Separately, she was sentenced to two years in jail for illegally interfering with the nomination process for lawmaker candidates of the then ruling Saenuri Party.

Park was ousted from presidency in March 2017, becoming the country's first impeached president over corruptions that involved her longtime confidante, Choi Soon-sil.

She was accused of conspiring with Choi to force big conglomerates, including Samsung, to donate tens of millions of US dollars to two foundations controlled by Choi.

She was also indicted on charges of receiving off-the-book money from heads of the National Intelligence Service (NIS).