Seoul — South Korea’s former health minister was convicted Thursday of abuse of power over a controversial Samsung merger, a verdict analysts warned could deepen the legal woes of impeached ex-president Park Geun-Hye. Park was sacked by the country’s top court in March and is currently in prison and on trial over a wide-ranging corruption scandal involving bribes from top businesses like Samsung in exchange for policy favours. The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Moon Hyung-Pyo to two years and six months in jail for pressuring the state-run National Pension Service (NPS) to approve a controversial merger between two Samsung units in 2015. "The fact that a health ministry official used pressure to damage the independence of the state pension fund is highly reproachable," the judges said after finding him guilty, according to the Yonhap news agency. Moon, who served as health minister at the time of the merger, had previously admitted to the charges. The court also sentenced a ...
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