South Korea's Supreme Court on Thursday tossed out a lower court ruling that had acquitted jailed former President Park Geun Hye over a bribery case involving the country's intelligence agency, ordering a retrial of the case at the appeals court.

The Seoul High Court had acquitted the former president of the charge of accepting bribes from the National Intelligence Service, while sentencing her to five years in prison for still causing the state to lose funds.

The top court determined that Park should also be found guilty of accepting bribes in the case. A retrial at the high court is highly likely to extend the existing prison sentence for the former president.

Park, 67, already faces a finalized prison sentence of two years for violating the public office election law in a separate case.

In late August, the Supreme Court also sent another corruption case involving her to a lower court, while still finding her guilty of accepting huge bribes from conglomerates such as Samsung and the Lotte Group.

(File photo)

The top court found at that time that there had been a violation of rules for criminal trials and ordered separate trials on the charges she faces.

The case is being retried at the high court, and Park, who was sentenced by the appellate court last year to 25 years in prison over the case, is likely to face a severe penalty.

Park was impeached by lawmakers in December 2016 and ousted from power the following March over the corruption scandal.

In connection with the case involving the National Intelligence Service, prosecutors alleged that Park had conspired with others in receiving a total of 3.65 billion won ($3 million) in illicit money from the intelligence agency between 2013 and 2016.

In July 2018, a district court acquitted the former president of bribery on the grounds that the money she received did not constitute bribes. But she was still found guilty of causing the state to lose funds, sentencing her to six years in prison.

A year later, the high court, in its appeals ruling, reduced her sentence by one year after finding that the loss of part of the state funds she was accused of causing was not criminal.

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