FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2017, file photo, former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, left, arrives to attend a hearing on the extension of her detention at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea.
South Koreas top court upheld 20-year prison term for Park over corruption on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021.
But the finalizing of her prison term also makes her eligible for a special presidential pardon, a looming possibility as the countryโs deeply split electorate approaches the next presidential election in March 2022.
Park originally faced a prison term of more than 30 years before the Supreme Court sent her cases back to a lower court in 2019.
Prosecutors appealed after the Seoul High Court handed Park a 20-year term in July last year after merging the two cases.