Story highlights
Park faces a wide range of charges, including coercion and leaking confidential information
There will be an election to choose a new South Korean president on May 9
(CNN) —
Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye has been officially indicted on a number of charges including abuse of power, prosecutors confirmed Monday.
A historic leader from a South Korean political dynasty, Park was forced from office in March amid a massive corruption scandal that engulfed not just her government but major international companies such as Samsung and Lotte Group.
Now the disgraced former leader will be made to defend allegations of coercion, attempted coercion, receiving and demanding bribes, and leaking confidential information.
The Constitutional Court upheld Park’s impeachment by South Korea’s National Assembly on March 10, removing the president from office and leaving her open to prosecution.
Park was arrested by South Korean authorities on March 30.
Judge Kang Bu-young, who issued the warrant for the former leader’s arrest, told reporters by text message in late March that “major crimes have been ascertained.”
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
PHOTO:
Ahn Young-joon/AP
Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye leaves an event in Seoul, South Korea, on March 1, 2016. A year later, the country's Constitutional Court upheld a parliamentary vote to impeach her over allegations of corruption and cronyism. Lawmakers and judges agreed that she abused her authority in helping a friend raise donations from companies.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
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YONHAP FILE/EPA
In this undated photo, Park is seen at back right with her late father, former South Korean President Park Chung-hee; her mother, Yook Young-soo; her sister, Park Geun-young; and her brother, Park Ji-man. Her father seized power in a military coup in 1961. He rewrote the constitution to cement his grip on power and brutally cracked down on dissent and opposition, leading many to call him a dictator.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
PHOTO:
Saenuri Party
Park Geun-hye, left, stands next to US President Jimmy Carter during Carter's state visit to Seoul in 1979. After Park's mother was killed in a botched assassination attempt on her father in 1974, Park became regarded as South Korea's first lady.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
PHOTO:
Yonhap via AP
Park casts a ballot with her father, who was assassinated by his own security chief in 1979. After the loss of her father, Park withdrew from the public sphere, living what she described as "a very normal life."
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
PHOTO:
The Asahi Shimbun/via Getty Images
Park speaks during an interview in May 1999. She said she was persuaded to rejoin politics after seeing the effects of the Asian economic crisis in the late 1990s. She served as a lawmaker in the National Assembly from 1998 to 2012.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
PHOTO:
AP Photo/Newsis
Park burns incense at the tomb of her father in August 2012, soon after she was named the presidential candidate for the ruling Saenuri Party.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
PHOTO:
Kyodo News via Getty Images
Park waves to her supporters in November 2012 after making her first official stump speech as a presidential candidate.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
PHOTO:
Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
Park greets people in downtown Seoul during the launch of her presidential campaign in November 2012.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
PHOTO:
Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
In December 2012, Park participates in a televised presidential debate with United Progressive Party candidate Lee Jung-hee and Democratic United Party candidate Moon Jae-in.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
PHOTO:
SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Park speaks to the media in December 2012 after becoming president-elect.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
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Park Jin-Hee-Pool/Getty Images
Park was sworn in as South Korea's first female president in February 2013.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
PHOTO:
Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
Park arrives for a dinner at the presidential Blue House following her inauguration in 2013.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
PHOTO:
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Park shakes hands with US President Barack Obama during a White House news conference in May 2013.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
PHOTO:
Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
Park talks with families of missing passengers after the Sewol ferry disaster in April 2014. The passenger ferry sank a day earlier, killing 304 people. Most of those aboard were high school students on a field trip to Jeju island, off South Korea's southern coast.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
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Handout/South Korean Presidential Blue House via Getty Images
Park sheds tears as she addresses the nation on the Sewol ferry disaster in May 2014. Park was criticized for her handling of the tragedy as it became apparent during the investigation that the ferry's sinking was a man-made disaster.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
PHOTO:
Ahn Young-joon/AP
After the corruption allegations surfaced, demonstrators carry cutouts of Park during a December 2016 rally calling for her to step down.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
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Handout/South Korean Presidential Blue House via Getty Images
Park attends an emergency cabinet meeting in December after the National Assembly voted overwhelmingly for an impeachment motion.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
PHOTO:
HANDOUT/South Korean Presidential House via AP
Park speaks to a select group of reporters at the Blue House in January. Park rejected accusations of corruption and refused to step down.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
PHOTO:
Ahn Young-joon/AP
A Park supporter holds up her portrait during a March rally opposing her impeachment.
Photos: The political career of Park Geun-hye
PHOTO:
SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Anti-Park protesters carry an effigy of the ousted president as they march toward the Blue House in March. Stripped of her immunity, Park is now liable to prosecution and must vacate the Blue House.
The daughter of controversial former leader Park Chung-hee, the younger Park’s election as South Korea’s first female president in 2012 was hailed as historic at the time.
Under Park’s leadership, South Korea moved even closer to the United States, including an agreement to deploy the THAAD missile defense system to the Korean peninsula despite China and North Korea’s strong objections.
Her rapid fall from power followed reports in late 2016 that her close confidante, Choi Soon-sil, used her position to raise large donations from South Korean companies for foundations Choi had set up.
Choi, Lotte and Samsung all deny the allegations.
Three televised apologies by Park couldn’t stop the public outrage, which led to enormous protests in the capital Seoul.
Less than three months after the scandal emerged, Park was impeached by a vote of 234 to 56 in the South Korean National Assembly.
South Korea is expected to move to the left when the country elects a new president on May 9.
With three weeks to go, Democratic Party candidate Moon Jae-in is leading most major polls.
A left-leaning administration could have major consequences for South Korea’s foreign policy, including restarting negotiations with North Korea.
Moon’s party has also been critical of the THAAD agreement and suggested it should be renegotiated, saying Park should have sought the approval of the National Assembly before deployment began.
Until a new president is chosen, Hwang Kyo-ahn will remain the acting leader of South Korea.
United States Vice President Mike Pence met with Hwang during his visit to South Korea on Monday, commending him for his “steady hand in this time of transition in South Korea.”
“Whatever change happens in your elections the commitment of the United States to South Korea’s safety and security will remain unchanged,” Pence said at a joint press conference.
CNN’s Taehoon Lee contributed to this report.
