Ousted South Korean leader goes on trial

South Korea's ousted president Park Geun-Hye, grim-faced and brought to court in handcuffs, went on trial yesterday over a sprawling corruption scandal that saw millions take to the streets and led to her downfall.

Only two months after leaving the presidential palace in disgrace, Park appeared at the Seoul Central District Court with a badge bearing her prisoner number pinned to her blue trouser suit, and no make-up.

She avoided meeting the glance of her longtime secret confidante and co-accused Choi Soon-Sil.

The trial, expected to last for months, is the final act in the drama that engulfed Park, the daughter of a dictator who went on to be elected president herself before being sacked by the country's top court.

Presiding judge Kim Se-Yun, who heads a three-man panel -- there is no jury -- asked her: "What is your occupation, the accused Park Geun-Hye?"

She responded: "I don't have any occupation."

Park, 65, is the third former South Korean leader to stand trial for corruption.

She was impeached by parliament in December after mass demonstrations -- fuelled by economic and social frustrations -- demanding her removal over a scandal centred on Choi, her friend of 40 years, and implicating some of the country's top businessmen.