Choi Soon-sil: South Korean ex-president's friend jailed

A close friend of South Korea's former president has been jailed for three years for corruption.

Choi Soon-sil's conviction for soliciting favours for her daughter is the first in a wide-reaching influence-peddling scandal which brought down President Park Geun-hye.

She had acted for years as an adviser to  Park, who has been impeached and is also on trial.

Choi also faces charges that she accepted bribes for  Park.

Park has denied all allegations of corruption.

Choi was found guilty of using her position to influence officials at a university to admit her daughter, Chung Yoo-ra, as well as give her daughter grades for papers or exams she never took.

The court stated in its verdict that "she committed too much wrongdoing to consider the actions were out of love as a mother who wants the best for her child," according to the Yonhap news agency.

Two former officials at the prestigious Ewha Womans University in Seoul have also been jailed for colluding with Choi.

Choi still faces other charges including abuse of authority, coercion, attempted coercion and attempted fraud.

Prosecutors say  Chung, an award-winning dressage rider, was involved in economic crimes, exam fraud, obstructing business and concealing criminal proceeds.

She has denied all these accusations and said she had no knowledge of her mother's dealings, including those with Ms Park.

Chung, 21, was arrested in Denmark earlier this year and extradited to South Korea.

She is currently not in detention in Seoul. On Tuesday a local court said there was no need to detain her and refused the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant.

Choi is on trial accused of using her presidential connections to pressure companies to give millions of dollars in donations to two non-profit foundations she controlled.

In exchange, it is alleged they received preferential treatment from the government.

Park is alleged to have been personally involved, instructing Choi and two presidential aides to collect money for the launch of the foundations.

The claims have swept up some of South Korea's biggest companies, including electronics giant Samsung.

The de-facto head of Samsung, Lee Jae-yong, is on trial.

Several other Samsung executives and former presidential aides are also either facing trial or are under investigation.

Choi is also accused of having received confidential government documents from Park.

Park was arrested in April and preliminary hearings began in May.

She has previously admitted to some lapses, such as consulting Choi for advice and letting her edit presidential speeches, and has apologised for them.

Source: bbc