Park Geun-hye: South Korea's ex-president granted government pardon

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has pardoned former President Park Geun-hye, who was serving a 22-year prison term for a vast corruption scandal.

The 69-year-old was convicted of abuse of power and coercion after she was impeached in 2017.

She was her country's first democratically-elected leader to be forced from office.

Park has been hospitalised three times this year due to chronic shoulder and lower back pain.

Local news outlet Yonhap said Park, who was among the beneficiaries of Mr Moon's special amnesty for the new year, had been placed on the list due in part to her poor health.

The announcement has come as a surprise as President Moon Jae-in had previously ruled out a pardon.

Mr Moon came to power on a promise to root out corruption in high office, says the BBC's Seoul Correspondent Laura Bicker.

In 2018, Park was found guilty of 16 out of 18 charges, most of which related to bribery and coercion.

The court ruled that she had colluded with her close friend, Choi Soon-sil, to pressure conglomerates such as electronics giant Samsung and retail chain Lotte to give millions of dollars to foundations run by Choi.

In addition, Park was found guilty of leaking confidential presidential documents to her long-time friend.

The ex-leader has always denied wrongdoing.