Supreme Court sentences confidante of ex-president Park Geun-hye to 18 years in prison

'국정농단' 최서원, 징역 18년•벌금 200억원 확정Choi Seo-won , a close confidante of the former President Park Geun-hye, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for her role in the corruption scandal that led to Park's impeachment.South Korea's Supreme Court announced the final verdict on Thursday, including a fine of 16-point-nine million U.S. dollars.Choi, who was previously known as Choi Soon-sil, is accused of coercing conglomerates to make donations to two of her foundations,... and taking bribes from Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong.This is the second time her case has reached the Supreme Court.In August last year, the court dismissed some of her charges and sent the case back to a lower court, which reduced her sentence from 20 years to its new sentence of 18 years.