Choi Soon-sil, a key figure in the abuse of state power as the "secret heavyweight" exerting influence over former President Park Geun-hye, was sentenced to twenty years in prison in her first trial. The ruling was a strict judgment on her behavior, taking advantage of her relationship with the president for her personal interests, while threatening the public order of the nation. The court recognized most of the charges against Choi and also acknowledged that she conspired with the former president in connection to most of the allegations. Now that Choi has received a heavy sentence, it appears a severe sentence will be inevitable for former President Park. In particular, Park seriously undermined the integrity and morality required of the nation's leader, so the possibility of a harsher sentence than Choi, a civilian, has increased.

Criminal Department 22 of the Seoul Central District Court announced on February 13, "Choi's extensive intervention in state affairs has led to the first ever impeachment of the president in the history of our Constitution. The main responsibility lies with former President Park, who cast aside her responsibilities stipulated in the Constitution and shared her status and authority granted by the Constitution with a personal acquaintance. The responsibility also lies with Choi, who took advantage of this to pursue her personal interests." The judges also pointed out, "Choi consistently made excuses that were difficult to accept and tried to blame others claiming that the abuse of state power was their scheme." As for the pressure on businesses to donate funds for the MI-R Foundation and the K-Sports Foundation, a key charge, the court judged, "They abused the authority of the president and forced businesses to donate the money." Former President Park's lawyers had insisted that a bribery charge did not hold because Park had never personally benefited from her actions, but the court clearly stated that former President Park conspired with Choi.

What is particularly noteworthy in this ruling is the part linked to the bribery charge of Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics. The judges in Choi's trial said that Choi was the actual owner of the horse that Samsung had purchased and recognized almost all of the money (7.2 billion won) that Samsung gave to Choi's daughter, Chung Yoo-ra for her equestrian training as a bribe. The court also recognized the office journal of Ahn Jong-beom, former Cheong Wa Dae senior secretary for policy coordination as evidence. This goes against the views of Criminal Department 13 of the Seoul High Court, which heard the appellate trial of Lee. On February 5, the judges in Lee's trial dismissed Ahn Jong-beom's journal as evidence, saw Samsung as the owner of the horse, and only recognized 3.6 billion won as a bribe.

Of the fifty people in trial for the abuse of state authority, only a handful of people including former President Park and former Cheong Wa Dae Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Woo Byung-woo still await their first ruling. The hearing of former President Park will conclude in March and the ruling is expected in April. The former president has refused to attend the trial since her detention period was extended last October. Even if she sincerely reflected and repented her actions, it would not be enough for the people to be more lenient toward her, yet she has opted to refuse the judicial procedure. Now that the court has clearly recognized the conspiracy between the former president and Choi, she has no room to remain so stubborn. Park should appear in the courtroom even now and personally reveal the truth and apologize.

The responsibility of the judiciary is also heavy. There are several trials on the abuse of state authority, but all these trials are organically linked. If a conclusion in one trial is significantly different from the ruling in other trials, this can trigger confusion in the judiciary. As we already know, the judges in Lee Jae-yong's appellate trial in the Seoul High Court and the judges in the first trial of Choi in the Seoul Central District Court have reached a different conclusion on the same issue in just a matter of eight days. Compared with the conclusions reached in other trials, it would be reasonable to see the ruling in the appellate trial as the one that caused the confusion. The abuse of state authority has seriously wounded the sovereign people, so the trials should be an opportunity to properly heal that wound. Only when all the courts take this to heart will they be able to properly establish judicial and historical justice.