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Quick answers
What was the Park Geun-hye / Choi Soon-sil scandal?
A 2016–17 South Korean political crisis in which reporting showed that Choi Soon-sil, a private confidante, had used access to President Park Geun-hye to influence speeches, state decisions and chaebol donations. Park was impeached, removed by the Constitutional Court and later convicted. Choi was also convicted.
What were the candlelight protests?
Weekly Saturday demonstrations, peaking in the winter of 2016–17, especially around Gwanghwamun in Seoul. Crowds carried candles and demanded Park's resignation or impeachment. English papers called them a candlelight revolution. The legal removal was an Assembly vote and a Constitutional Court decision, not a street seizure of power.
When was Park removed from office?
The National Assembly impeached her on 9 December 2016. The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment unanimously on 10 March 2017. She left the presidency that day. Moon Jae-in won the snap election in May 2017.
Was Park convicted in a criminal court?
Yes. In 2018 she was convicted of offences including bribery and abuse of power and received a long prison term, later adjusted on appeal. Moon pardoned her in December 2021. A pardon is not an acquittal; the status token remains convicted.
Who is Choi Soon-sil?
A private citizen and long-time associate of Park, daughter of the late pastor Choi Tae-min. She was not a minister. Courts convicted her for her role in the influence-and-money scheme. English Rasputin metaphors are colour, not a job title.
How does Samsung come into the file?
Prosecutors said Samsung affiliates were pressured to support Choi-linked foundations and that a merger benefited from political help. Lee Jae-yong was convicted, appealed and later pardoned on a separate track. Financial English often led with that chaebol story.
The investigation ran on three tracks: newsrooms, impeachment and criminal special prosecutors.
Steps below are what those bodies did after the tablet stories, not how to run a secret influence channel.
Agencies
- JTBC and Korean print desks — Broke and expanded the 2016 access-and-foundations story that made denial unsustainable.
- National Assembly — Passed impeachment on 9 December 2016, suspending the president.
- Constitutional Court of Korea — Heard the impeachment trial and removed Park on 10 March 2017.
- Special prosecutors / Seoul courts — Indicted and tried Park, Choi and chaebol figures on criminal charges in 2017–18.
What followed
- Publish the access file
JTBC and others put Choi's role in speeches and fundraising on air. Street protest followed the journalism, not the other way around.
- Fill Gwanghwamun on Saturdays
Candlelight crowds created the political climate in which Assembly members would vote. They did not replace the vote.
- Impeach in the Assembly
The 9 December 2016 motion suspended Park and sent a constitutional case to the Court.
- Try the impeachment
The Constitutional Court took evidence and, on 10 March 2017, removed the president unanimously.
- Prosecute the criminal case
Special prosecutors built bribery and coercion files distinct from the impeachment judgment.
- Sentence, appeal, pardon
2018 convictions and later clemency closed the personal liberty question without wiping the record.
Turning points
- The tablet week — Once speech drafts and a device were on television, the capture story could not be walked back as rumour.
- The 9 December vote — Parliament converted protest into a legal process the Court could finish.
- Unanimous 10 March — A full-bench removal made the civic result unambiguous in Korean and in English wires.
After the fact, journalists, legislators, justices and prosecutors each did a different job. Only the last two could convict.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice. Not a how-to. Graphic detail is withheld. Wars belong in a separate atlas.