The retrial of Park Geun-hye, former president of the Republic of Korea (ROK), opened at the Seoul High Court on Wednesday afternoon but lasted only five minutes. Park boycotted the session. 

Park, who was impeached, convicted and jailed over a sprawling corruption scandal, has refused to take part in the judicial proceedings against her for more than two years, citing ill health. 

As a result, the court adjourned and scheduled another session for January 31, when it will move straight to closing arguments, Yonhap reported.

Park, the first female president of the ROK, was brought down in 2017 after huge street protests triggered by allegations that she and a close friend took bribes from top conglomerates for government favors. 

She was convicted in April 2018 on bribery and abuse of power charges and sentenced to 24 years, later extended for an additional 12 months, and 20 billion won (17 million U.S. dollars) in fines. She has also been sentenced to five years' jail for illegally taking money from the country's spy agency and two years for election law violations.  

The penalties apply consecutively, meaning she is currently serving a total of 32 years. 

But the Supreme Court has ordered a combined retrial of the corruption and spy agency cases, saying some of the bribery accusations should have been dealt with as separate charges – which may lead to a heavier sentence. 

The corruption scandal exposed shady links between big businesses and politics in the ROK, with Park and her close friend Choi Soon-sil accused of taking bribes from conglomerates including Samsung Electronics in exchange for preferential treatment. 

(With input from AFP)