Timeline: The rise and fall of South Korea's Park Geun-hye
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The arrest of South Korea's first female president marks a stunning fall for the scion of a powerful general who himself ruled the country during her teenage years and into her 20s.
The memories of December 2012, when she convincingly won the presidency thanks to older voters who remembered her father as a hero who lifted a nation from war-torn poverty, couldn't feel more remote.
Park resigns as chairman of a children's foundation over suspicions that she allowed her mentor, Choi Tae-min, and his daughter, Choi Soon-sil, to manipulate it for personal gains.
After years of mostly avoiding the public eye, Park enters politics and wins a parliamentary seat amid public nostalgia for her father at a time when South Korea was being battered by the Asian financial crisis.
Media report suspicions that a senior Park aide pressured companies into giving money to non-profit organizations controlled by Choi Soon-sil, the daughter of her mentor.
The Constitutional Court votes unanimously to uphold the impeachment and remove Park from office, which lifts her immunity from prosecution.