Friend of ex-SKorean president, Lotte chairman get prison
(WorldNews South Korea)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A former confidante accused of manipulating South Korea`s former president for personal gain was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison for bribery and other crimes in the political scandal that triggered the country`s first presidential impeachment and the conviction of an heir to the Samsung empire. The Seoul Central District Court also sentenced the chairman of the Lotte Group, South Korea`s fifth-largest conglomerate, to 2 ½ years in prison for bribery in the same case. Park Geun-hye had been impeached last March and removed from the presidency in disgrace. She is standing trial on more than a dozen criminal charges...