(EPA-EFE/Yonhap photo)SEOUL: South Korean prosecutors on Thursday demanded a 25-year prison term for the confidante of ousted South Korean President Park Geun Hye at the centre of a corruption scandal. At the trial at the Seoul Central District Court, the prosecutors also demanded that Choi Soon Sil pay fines totalling 118.5 billion won (about $109 million) and forfeit 7.8 billion won. The prosecutors also requested a four-year jail term for Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong Bin on charges of bribing Mrs Choi. Mrs Choi is suspected of using her ties to Ms Park to strong-arm business conglomerates into making large donations to foundations she effectively ran. It has been alleged that the non-profit foundations, Mir and K-sports, raised a total of 77.4 billion won.

Source: Bangkok Post December 14, 2017 13:41 UTC