Park Geun-hye

Park Geun-hye served as the 11th President of South Korea from 2013 to 2017. Her presidency ended when the Constitutional Court unanimously upheld her impeachment on March 10, 2017, following a massive influence-peddling scandal involving her longtime confidante, Choi Soon-sil. Investigations revealed Park colluded with Choi to pressure major conglomerates, including Samsung and Lotte, to donate 77.4 billion won to foundations Choi controlled and to provide bribes for business favors. Park was also convicted of leaking classified presidential documents to Choi and interfering in 2016 parliamentary candidate nominations. Additionally, she was found guilty of illegally receiving 3 billion won in funds from the National Intelligence Service. Following her removal, Park faced multiple trials. In 2018, she was convicted of 16 out of 18 charges, including bribery, coercion, and abuse of power, initially receiving a 30-year sentence that was later reduced. She also received a two-year sentence for election law violations. In 2021, the Supreme Court finalized a 20-year prison term, a 18 billion won fine, and 3.5 billion won in forfeitures. She was acquitted of bribery charges regarding the intelligence agency funds.