Lotte chief embroiled in influence-peddling scandal sentenced to 20 years jail

Seoul

THE friend of former South Korean leader Park Geun Hye, who was at the centre of an influence-peddling scandal that rocked the country's business and political elite, has been sentenced to 20 years in jail, a Seoul court said on Tuesday.

The court also sentenced the chairman of the Lotte Group, the country's fifth-largest conglomerate, to two years and six months in prison in the same case.