Park Geun-hye: Ex-South Korean president charged in corruption probe

Ousted South Korean president Park Geun-hye has been formally charged in a corruption scandal that led to her impeachment, BBC reports.

Prosecutors say the charges she faces include bribery, coercion, abuse of power and leaking state secrets.

The source reminds that 65-year-old Park Geun-hye, who is in custody, is accused of allowing close friend Choi Soon-sil to extort money from companies in return for political favours. Both women deny the charges. Ms Park was removed from office last month.

She lost her presidential immunity and was dismissed from her post when the constitutional court upheld a decision by parliament in December to impeach her.

Ms Choi is accused of using her presidential connections to put pressure on companies to give millions of dollars in donations to non-profit foundations she controlled.

Ms Park is alleged to have been personally involved in this, and to have given Ms Choi unacceptable levels of access to official documents.

As ABC news reports, Ms Park will remain jailed and be escorted from the detention centre to a Seoul court for a trial that is to start in coming weeks and could take as long as six months.