Choi Soon-sil, a longtime confidant of ousted President Park Geun-hye, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for a string of corruption charges.
Announcing its verdict for her retrial earlier today, the Seoul High Court commuted its sentence for Choi from the previous 20 years.
The retrial was ordered by the Supreme Court last August.
In February 2018, the same Seoul appellate court handed Choi 20 years behind bars, a fine of 20 billion won and a forfeit of 7 billion won on charges linked to a massive influence-peddling scandal that forced Park from office a year prior.
The 64-year-old Choi was indicted for exploiting her ties with the former president and forcing 50 business conglomerates to pay a combined 77.4 billion won to two nonprofit foundations she controlled.■
<Photo: Yonhap News>
