VOA慢速英语2018 韩国前总统密友被判处20年有期徒刑（在线收听）

20-Year Sentence for Woman Linked to Former S. Korean President

The woman whose dealings with former South Korean President Park Geun-hye led to her removal from office has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

与韩国前总统朴槿惠有往来并导致她辞职的这名女性被判处了20年有期徒刑。

The Seoul Central District Court announced the sentencing of Choi Soon-sil on Tuesday. The court ordered Choi to pay a fine of nearly $17 million.

首尔中央地方法院周二宣布了对崔顺实的判决。法院判决对崔顺实课以近1700万美元的罚款。

She was found guilty on charges of abuse of power, bribery and meddling in state affairs.

她的罪名包括滥用职权、贿赂以及干涉国政。

The scandal involving Choi, Park, other government officials and business leaders led to huge protests across the country.

这起丑闻涉及了崔顺实、朴槿惠以及其他政府官员和商界领袖，它导致韩国各地爆发了大规模抗议活动。

As a result, South Korea’s National Assembly voted to impeach Park in late 2016. The Supreme Court voted to remove her from office last year. This led to early presidential elections, won by current president Moon Jae-in.

因此，韩国国民议会在2016年末投票表决弹劾了朴槿惠。去年，韩国最高法院投票表决让她下台。这导致总统选举提前，并最终由现任总统文在寅赢得这次选举。

The scandal has led to calls for reform of the chaebols, a term for South Korea’s very largest corporations. Some critics say these businesses have too much influence over the economy.

这起丑闻引发了人们对财团改革的呼吁。财团是指代韩国超大规模公司的一个术语。有评论称，这些公司对经济影响过大。

Influence over the former president

对前总统的影响

Choi Soon-sil was accused of having strong influence over the former president, which some observers described as a “cult-like” control. The 62-year-old longtime friend of Park held no government position, but she had influence over the president’s decisions.

崔顺实被指控对前总统具有强大的影响力。一些观察人士称这是一种“邪教式”的控制。朴槿惠这位62岁的老朋友没有担任任何政府职务，但是她对总统的决定有影响力。

Park and Choi had known each other since the 1970s.

朴槿惠和崔顺实在上世纪70年代就互相认识。

Choi also was found guilty of using her relationship with Park to force large businesses to donate more than $68 million to two non-profit corporations she controlled.

崔顺实涉及的罪名还包括利用她和朴槿惠的关系，胁迫大型企业向她控制的两家非营利性公司捐赠超过了6800万美元。

Business leaders connected to the case also received jail sentences.

与此案牵连的商界领袖也被判入狱。

The court sentenced the chairman of the Lotte Group, Sin Dong-bin, to two and a half years in prison on bribery charges. Sin was charged with giving over $6 million to a group Choi supported in exchange for state permission to open a duty-free store and other things.

法院以贿赂罪名判决乐天集团董事长辛东斌两年半有期徒刑。辛东斌被指控向崔顺实支持的一家组织捐款600多万美元，以换取开设免税店的政府许可等好处。

A former aide to Park also received a six-year sentence for abuse of power.

朴槿惠的一名前助手也因为滥用权力被判处六年有期徒刑。

Last week, another person linked to the case had his sentence suspended and was released from prison.

上周，另一位与此案有关的人士被暂缓刑期并释放。

Lee Jae-young is heir to the wealth of the family that controls much of Samsung Electronics, one of South Korea’s biggest companies.

李再荣是控制三星电子大部分股份的家族财团的继承人，三星是韩国最大的公司之一。

Lee was sentenced last August to five years in prison for bribery and a number of other financial crimes linked to the Choi scandal.

李再荣去年因为贿赂和其他一系列跟崔顺实丑闻有关的金融犯罪被判处五年有期徒刑。

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

scandal – n. a case of wrongdoing that shocks many people

bribery – n. the act or crime of paying money to an official in order to get something

meddle – v. to become involved in concerns of others when you involvement is unwanted

affairs – n. activities

impeach – v. to bring charges against a public official

cult – n. a small, religious group that is not connected to any larger group that is believed to have extreme ideas

duty-free – adj. selling goods that will not be taxed when taken to another country

heir – n. a person who has the legal right to receive the property of someone after they die