Former President of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Park Geun-hye was sentenced to 20 years in jail and fined 20 billion won over a corruption scandal that led to her impeachment in 2017, a ROK court ruled on Friday.

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.

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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.

"Failing to fulfill the constitutional duty as the president and committing crimes, (Park) created a big mess in the running of state affairs," the court said, delivering the reduced ruling. "But the court took into account that she seems to have received a little personal benefit and to almost have been declared politically bankrupt," according to the court. 

As in previous court hearings and rulings, Park was not present at Friday's court ruling, as she has been boycotting all her trials.

(Cover: File photo of Park Geun-hye who bows to the public in Seoul, ROK. /Xinhua)