EX-PRESIDENT Park Geun Hye’s confidante Choi Soon Sil was jailed today for 20 years for bribery, abuse of power and other crimes.

Seoul’s Central District Court also sentenced the chairman of the Lotte Group, South Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate, to two-and-a-half years in prison for bribery in the same case.

Ms Park was impeached last March and removed from the presidency in disgrace. She is standing trial on more than a dozen criminal charges and the case against Ms Choi could hint at the penalty she faces if convicted.