Park Geun-hye's close friend who is at the heart of an influence-peddling scandal that led to her ouster on Friday apologised to the former President, the confidante's lawyer said.
"Defendant Choi Seo-won repeatedly apologised to the President and the people," her lawyer Lee Kyung-jae said in a press release. Choi Soon-sil has changed her name to Choi Seo-won.
Earlier in the day, the Constitutional Court upheld the National Assembly's impeachment of Park over a string of corruption allegations implicating Choi, Yonhap news agency reported.
Park was immediately removed from office.
One of the grounds for the ouster was that Park ordered one of her aides to take millions of dollars from local conglomerates to set up two dubious foundations, allegedly controlled by Choi.
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Her lawyer Lee, however, denied such allegations.
"The justices will be sternly judged by history on whether they shed a light to South Korea in crisis or cast yet another shadow," Lee said in the release.
On the same day, a hearing on Choi was held at the Seoul Central District Court. She did not show any change in her expression after she was told by her lawyer that Park was ousted.
Her niece Chang Si-ho, who is standing trial with Choi, later said her aunt wailed after hearing about the Constitutional Court's ruling, when the court was adjourned.
--IANS
soni/bg
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