Choi Soon-sil 

It would be hard to find a South Korean adult now who does not know who Choi Soon-sil is.

The woman, once shrouded in secrecy, is President Park Geun-hye’s friend of 40 years and the central figure of a sweeping corruption and peddling of influence scandal that sparked massive protests in South Korea and eventually led to the president’s impeachment on Dec. 9.

A daughter of Choi Tae-min, Park’s late mentor and a shamanistic cult leader, the 60-year-old Choi is now jailed awaiting trial, accused of using her ties to Park to gain influence and personal favors and help her 20-year-old daughter receive special treatment in her education and sporting career.

Park Geun-hye

President Park Geun-hye started 2016 on solid footing -- with job approval ratings over 40 percent -- and ended the year mired in a nightmare.

Embroiled in a sweeping corruption scandal involving her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil, Park is now impeached and suspended from office, pending an impeachment trial.

The disgraced leader, however, insists the nation has not seen the last of her. Denying all accusations against her and despite abysmal support of just 4 percent, Park is gearing up for a tough fight at the Constitutional Court to save her job and reputation.

Lee Jae-yong

What would have been an ambitious year of the debut of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong became a year of tumult, from the global recall of the Galaxy Note 7, prone to fire, to a humiliating parliamentary hearing that intensified public outrage against the conglomerate’s alleged corruptive dealings with President Park Geun-hye and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil.

Despite Lee’s decision to join the boardroom in late October, widely seen as a modern-day coronation of the heir to the nation’s largest conglomerate, a series of complex problems emerged including suspicions surrounding last year’s merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil industries. The developments also brought to the fore social debates on South Korean conglomerates’ hereditary succession and collusive ties through politics.

Lee is expected to continue facing challenges in 2017, including the ongoing special investigations on Samsung’s alleged bribery, and the tech giant’s shaky position as the global leader amid deteriorating economy and intensifying market competition.

Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho 

Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho came under fire over lack of efforts to rescue cash-strapped Hanjin Shipping this year. While Cho belatedly offered to provide 500 billion won ($413 million), including from his personal assets, creditors refused it, citing lack of funds to save the company. The ailing shipper finally filed for court receivership in September.

Further controversy was raised in November after the chairman admitted to having been pressured from Cheong Wa Dae to step down from the top position in the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics Organizing Committee. Cho resigned from the post in May. Suspicion grew that President Park Geun-hye’s close confidante Choi Soon-Sil, who is under fire in the peddling of influence scandal, played a part in Cho’s resignation.

Rising Star Song Joong-ki 

Song Joong-ki has enjoyed huge popularity across Asia and even helped buoy the Korean economy.

His portrayal of the dashing Army Capt. Yoo Shi-jin in the smash-hit series “Descendants of the Sun” was also streamed on Chinese video platform Iqiyi. This fueled tourism and sales of featured products, generating more than 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion) to the economy here.

Song’s stardom came as his pretty-boy image was stripped away, a tag which had followed the actor since his 2008 debut. His on-screen roles have been diverse in comparison, including a half-human being in the movie “A Werewolf Boy” (2012).

Top golfer Park In-bee 

Park In-bee won her first Olympic gold medal in women’s golf in August. In the event, the first staged in 116 years as an official Olympic program at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she shot a 16-under 268 for first place. Despite her thumb injury, which had sidelined her from major competitions in the lead-up to the Olympics, she beat world No. 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand, at silver, by five shots.

Park had rested from LPGA Tour events since June. She then entered a KLPGA event just two weeks before the opening of the Olympic Games, where she missed the cut. Many Koreans worried about her joining the Korean Olympic team, but she more than calmed the worries by winning the gold.

Park received the annual presidential Sports award, the highest honor given by the government to athletes who have contributed to the development of Korea in athletics. The award recognizes her winning her first Olympic gold medal in golf and three consecutive majors in 2013.

Anti-Park protestors 

How South Korean protestors forced President Park Geun-hye out -- although not permanently, yet -- was the bright side of the political fiasco that has swept the country over the last two months of 2016.

Starting off with about 20,000 participants in late October, shortly after President Park’s scandal broke, Saturday night’s candlelight vigils grew bigger week after week in turnout, peaking at a record 2.32 million on Dec. 3.

Although the message was unforgiving and stern, demanding Park’s immediate ouster, the rallies were devoid of unruly scenes, such as violent clashes with police or loads of trash left behind on the street. Not a single protestor was booked for unlawful activities.

Ex-top court judge Kim Young-ran 

A former Supreme Court justice, Kim Young-ran has been a lifelong champion of anti-corruption efforts in South Korea, where bribery often disguises itself in customs of gift-giving and hospitality.

Her campaign for a fairer and more transparent society bore fruit on Sept. 28., when the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, more frequently referred to as the Kim Young-ran law, came into effect.

The sweeping anti-graft law bans government officials, journalists and teachers from offering and receiving meals worth over 30,000 won ($27), presents of over 50,000 won and monetary gifts of over 100,000 won.

Go player Lee Se-dol

Eighteen-time world champion Go player Lee Se-dol had a historic Go match with artificial intelligence in March after Google DeepMind’s AI system AlphaGo threw down the gauntlet for one of the most complex board games in history.

After the second of the five Go games with AlphaGo, Lee said, “I could not find any weakness (in the Al system’s game). It was completely my failure.”

The 4-1 defeat of one of the world’s top human Go players in the $1 million match astonished the world, demonstrating dramatic advances in AI.

K-pop revolutionary, BTS

Boy band BTS, short for Bangtan Boys, achieved a strange kind of popularity in the K-pop scene, captivating an international audience before coming to acclaim in Korea.

The seven-member group’s first album “Wings,” released in October, was listed as the best K-pop album of 2016 by US Billboard.

Three of its music videos -- “Fire,” “Blood, Sweat & Tears” and “Save Me” -- ranked among the 10 most-viewed music videos of 2016 on YouTube, surpassing groups like EXO and Twice who have a stronger presence in the local music scene.

BTS was the only foreign artist on the most-searched list on Japanese Twitter, coming in at No. 7. It ranked fifth in the Philippines’ “Biggest Twitter Moment in 2016,” and came in seventh place in Singapore’s “Biggest Hashtag Trend of the Year.”