2nd LD: S. Korean prosecutors demand 25-year jail term for ousted president's confidante

SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- South Korean prosecutors on Thursday demanded a 25-year jail term for Choi Soon-sil, a longtime confidante of ousted South Korean President Park Geun-hye, according to local media reports.

Independent counsel Park Young-soo and state prosecutors called on a Seoul court to sentence Choi to 25 years in prison and fine her 126.2 billion won (116 million U.S. dollars).

A whopping 18 charges were levied on Choi, including abuse of power and bribery.

The prosecution demanded six years in prison for An Chong-bum, former aide to the impeached president, while asking for four years in jail for Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin.

The court was expected to hand down the first trial ruling in January as a verdict tends to be reached two or three weeks after the prosecution's quantum of sentence.

Prosecutors said Choi used the presidential authority to pursue her personal interest, damaging the constitutional value and shaking the discipline of the country.

The prosecution noted that she denied all of her wrongdoings in the past court hearings, saying she was a person who caused the national crisis of leading a president to be impeached for the first time in the country's history.

Choi, the decades-long friend of former President Park, was suspected of peddling influence behind the scenes to intervene in state affairs though she was a civilian having no public position.

She was indicted on 13 common charges with Park, who was impeached and taken into custody earlier this year. The impeached president was facing multiple charges, including abuse of power and bribery.

Choi and An were accused of forcing tens of local conglomerates to donate tens of millions of U.S. dollars to two nonprofit foundations controlled by Choi.

Choi was charged with taking bribes from Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who was sentenced to five years in jail in August, in return for illegal assistance to Lee's management inheritance from his ailing father Lee Kun-hee, chief of Samsung Group, South Korea's biggest family-controlled conglomerate.

Shin, chairman of Lotte Group, South Korea's fifth-biggest conglomerate, was charged with offering bribes to one of the Choi-controlled foundation in exchange for business favors. Enditem