Prosecutors seek 25 years for Choi Soon-sil

Published : Jun 15, 2018 - 13:42 Updated : Jun 15, 2018 - 13:42

Prosecutors on Friday demanded a 25-year jail term for an old friend of former President Park Geun-hye for a string of corruption charges linked to a massive influence-peddling scandal.

The demand came as an appeal to the prior ruling against Choi.

In February, the Seoul Central District Court slapped Choi, Park's longtime friend and confidante, with a 20-year jail term on the conviction of bribery, abuse of power and coercion.

Choi Soon-sil appears at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul Friday. (Yonhap)

The 61-year-old is accused of exploiting her ties with the former president and forcing business conglomerates to pay two nonprofit foundations she controlled.

Special Counsel Park Young-soo and state prosecutors earlier demanded 25 years in prison for Choi, with a fine of 118.2 billion won ($108 million) and forfeiture of 7.7 billion won. (Yonhap)