S Korea’s ex-leader abused power for bribes, court told

SEOUL – South Korea’s former leader Park Geun-hye abused her power and pressured companies to pay her tens of millions of dollars in bribes, a prosecutor told a Seoul court at the start of her corruption trial yesterday.

“The accused Park Geun-hye, in collusion with her friend Choi Soon-sil ... abused power and pressured business companies to provide bribes, thus taking private gains,” senior prosecutor Lee Won-seok told the court.

“The accused deny even the most basic facts but the charges are fully supported by material evidence and testimonies.”

Park, the country’s first democratically elected leader to be removed from office, is charged with taking bribes from business leaders. If found guilty, she faces more than 10 years in jail.

The former leader has denied any wrongdoing, and pleaded not guilty at the trial. Her lawyers rejected the 18 charges against her in pre-trial proceedings. “There was no reason for President Park to force companies to donate money which she was unable to use for herself,” Park’s lawyer Yoo Yeong-ha told the court.

“There were no monetary gains she could have had personally from the establishment of the two foundations, as no individuals could freely take funds from the foundations,” said Mr Yoo, referring to two sporting foundations formed to support Park’s policies.

In the courtroom, Park sat grim- faced, her eyes puffy and looking straight ahead, next to a lawyer sitting with Choi, the friend accused of colluding with Park to take bribes.

The two, who are being reunited for the first time since the scandal erupted in public in late October, did not acknowledge each other as they entered the courtroom.

Media reported that Park said she did not want a jury trial. Defendants have the right to be tried by a jury, although its decision is not binding and can be changed by the presiding judge.

Presiding judge Kim Se-yun, who heads a three-man panel, asked her: “What is your occupation, the accused Park Geun-hye?” She responded: “I don’t have any occupation.” Beyond that, she said little.

In contrast, Choi was tearful when she addressed the court. “I have been serving President Park for the past four decades. I feel very sorry for causing President Park to stand trial like this,” she said, half sobbing, adding Park is “not a person who can be lured by bribes”. After the hearing adjourned, Park was put back into handcuffs and returned to the detention centre where she is being held. AGENCIES

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The trial of South Korea’s former leader Park Geun-hye is expected to last for months. It is the final act in the drama that engulfed Park, the daughter of a dictator who went on to be elected president herself before she was sacked by the country’s top court.

Her court appearance yesterday is the first time she has been seen in public since her arrest in March. She arrived at court handcuffed and with a badge bearing her prisoner number pinned to her navy pantsuit, her hair held back in a haphazard bun and her face showing little sign of make-up.