South Korea’s highest court upheld the 20-year prison sentence of ex-president Park Geun Hye on Thursday.
The Supreme Court in Seoul said it was rejecting an appeal by the prosecution against the reduced prison term decided in July.
The ruling marks the final decision on the corruption case of 68-year-old Park.
Park had been indicted for corruption and abuse of power, as well as bribery in a separate case, following a scandal in 2017 that led to her impeachment.
The daughter of military dictator Park Chung Hee, Park was ousted from office in March 2017 after being impeached for corruption following weeks of demonstrations calling for her resignation.
Park was accused of allowing her close friend Choi Soon Sil too much access to government business – Choi held no official post – and of helping her friend to extort money from top companies including Samsung.
“Samsung Electronics deeply regrets that this case has created concerns across the society,” a company statement said on Thursday.
Park has always denied the accusations against her, arguing that they were politically motivated.
