Still denying all charges, former president Park Geun-hye appears at trial

Posted on : 2017-05-24 17:33 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Court planning to merge the trials of Park and her confidante Choi Soon-sil, who are accused of taking bribes from Samsung
Former president Park Geun-hye in criminal courtroom No. 417 in the Seoul Central District Court
Former president Park Geun-hye in criminal courtroom No. 417 in the Seoul Central District Court

At 10 am on May 23, in criminal courtroom No. 417 in the Seoul Central District Court, former president Park Geun-hye stood in the dock.

It was in this very place on Mar. 11, 1996 that defendants Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo became the first former presidents (in office 1979-88 and 1988-93, respectively) to be put on trial. More than 21 years later, another former president stood in the same place. Park is facing 18 charges, including bribery (as defined in the Act on Aggravated Punishment for Specific Crimes) for demanding or receiving 59.2 billion won (US$52.59 million) from Samsung, Lotte and SK.

After beginning the trial, Kim Se-yoon, judge for the 22nd criminal division of the Seoul Central District Court, formally confirmed Park’s identity by asking her about her job. Briefly and calmly, Park replied that she did not have one. For the three hours of the trial, she sat stiffly in the dock, wearing a badge with her inmate number, 503. Choi Soon-sil, who was separated from Park by a lawyer, cried intermittently, but Park didn’t look at her.

For the first 50 minutes of the trial, prosecutors presented their opening statement, in which they laid out the 18 charges against Park, the names of the crimes and the relevant legal passages. “It may be an unfortunate chapter in history that this former president has been put in jail and stands here in court. But for a president to be brought to trial for her unlawful deeds also shows that the rule of law has been established,” said Lee Won-seok, the prosecutor in charge of the first department of special investigations for the Seoul Central Office of the Prosecutors. Lee promised that he would do his best to ensure that Park received a punishment that fit her crimes.

But Park’s attorney, Yoo Young-ha, denied all the charges, stating that “the charges had not been strictly demonstrated but rather depended on deduction and imagination.” When the judge asked the defendant to confirm the not guilty plea, Park only said that she shared her attorney’s position. “I feel like such a sinner to have brought this trial upon President Park, who I have been watching for 40 years. President Park is certainly not someone who would disturb this country with a bribe,” Choi said through her tears.

During the hearing, the court resolved to merge Park’s trial and Choi’s “Samsung bribery” trial, over the objections of Park and Choi’s attorneys. “If separate trials are held for two people facing the same charges, many witnesses will have to be summoned to both trials to give testimony, which would be a waste of time,” Kim Se-yoon said. The second hearing in Park’s trial will take place at the same location at 10 am on May 25. Starting next week, when the two trials are merged, the court is planning to focus on the case, holding three or four hearings a week.

By Kim Min-kyung, Seo Young-ji and Hyun So-eun, staff reporters

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