S.Korea's disgraced ex-president Park freed after nearly 5 years in prison
S.Korea's disgraced ex-president Park freed after nearly 5 years in prison
SEOUL (Reuters) - Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye was released from prison on Friday nearly five years after being convicted of corruption, fuelling debate over whether she would play any role ahead of a March presidential election.
Park, 69, was the country's first democratically elected leader to be thrown out of office when the Constitutional Court upheld a parliament vote in 2017 to impeach her over a scandal that also led to the imprisonment of the chiefs of two conglomerates, Samsung and Lotte.
South Korea's top court in January upheld a 20-year prison sentence imposed after Park was found guilty of colluding with a friend, who is also in jail, to receive tens of billions of won from the companies, mostly to fund her friend's family and non-profit foundations.
President Moon Jae-in granted a special pardon to Park last week, citing her deteriorating health and expressing hope to "overcome unfortunate past history and promote national unity".
Justice ministry officials delivered the pardon to Park at the hospital where she has been staying for a month at midnight on Thursday, the Yonhap news agency reported, adding she remained there on Friday. The hospital declined to comment.
Her lawyer has said Park, the daughter of a former military ruler, had offered an apology for causing public concern and thanked Moon for making a "tough decision".
Reuters/KIM HONG-JI FILE PHOTO: S.Korea's disgraced ex-president Park freed after nearly 5 years in prison
Park's release comes as her old party, the main opposition conservative People Power Party, and Moon's Democratic Party are in a tight presidential race.
Her imprisonment divided the country, with right-wing, pro-Park groups staging weekly rallies to denounce Moon and his policies and call for Park's release, until COVID-19 distancing rules stifled the rallies last year.
Hundreds of Park's supporters braved freezing temperatures to flock to the hospital where she was staying late on Thursday to celebrate her release, with more than 1,000 bouquets of flowers arriving.
About 200 people held a protest in downtown Seoul against her release, Yonhap reported.
It was not clear if Park would resume any political activity but she said in a memoir released on Thursday that her conviction was politically motivated and she expressed hopes to "meet the people again one day".
People Power's presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, who investigated the Park scandal as prosecutor-general, said on Friday he had done his job as a public servant, adding he would like to visit Park when her health improved.
(This story corrects to Park remains in hospital and has not left it, paragraphs 5-6)
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Reference: Reuters: By Hyonhee Shin
Articles-Popular
- Main
- Contact Us
- Planetary Existences-2
- Planetary Existences
- TWO REVELATIONS-2
- The Two Revelations
- Jeffery Epstein - The Saga - 9
- Jeffery Epstein - The Saga - 8
- Jeffery Epstein - The Saga - 10
- Universality of Initiation
- The Participants In The Mysteries-2
- The Path Of Initiation
- Initiation and the Devas
- Impeachment Investigators Subpoena White House - Ukraine
- The Fourth Way - Study of Oneself - P.D.Ouspensky
- Discipleship - Group Relations - 2
- The Probationary Path - 2
- The Final Initiation
- The Succeeding Two Initiations
- The Participants In The Mysteries
- Discipleship - Group Relationships
- Discipleship
- Jeffery Epstein - The Saga - 7
- The Fourth Way - Wrong Functions - P.D Ouspensky
- Statues are a mark of honour. Like Edward Colston, Cecil Rhodes and Oliver Cromwell have to go
- Jeffery Epstein - The Saga - 6
Articles - Latest
- US government agrees to $138.7M settlement over FBI's botching of Larry Nassar assault allegations
- WW3 fears skyrocket as Iran official wars Tehran can launch nukes in one week
- Barbados halts £3m plan to purchase Tory MP’s former slavery plantation amid backlash
- Hamas chiefs 'planned to INVADE Israel, kill civilians and form state'
- New Opinion Poll Heats Up London Mayor Race
- Poland ready to host US nukes on Putin's doorstep as Nato and Russia heading for nuclear showdown
- Tory MP resigns after demanding £6,500 to pay off 'bad people'
- Richard Drax to earn millions from sale of Barbados slave plantation
- Met apologises to Stephen Lawrence’s mother for broken promise
- Greek and Turkish delegations meet in Athens as part of efforts to improve often strained ties
- Why £2.5 billion from Roman Abramovich's Chelsea sale STILL hasn't been paid to Ukraine war victims - explained
- Ex-Scottish leader Sturgeon's husband charged with embezzling party funds
- Ousted Myanmar leader Suu Kyi moved from prison to house arrest due to heat
- Vietnamese property tycoon sentenced to death in $27bn fraud case
- All seven British terrorist co-conspirators of al-Qaeda 'dirty bomb' mastermind Dhiren Barot are freed after serving just HALF their jail terms: Thugs were caged for a total of 136 years in 2007 over terror plot to kill hundreds in London and New York