Park Young-joon, former vice economy minister and close aide to President Lee Myung-bak, was sentenced to two years behind bars for taking bribes in return for peddling his influence in winning government approval for a massive construction deal.

The Seoul Central District Court handed out the prison sentence to the former vice minister of Knowledge Economy, also ordering him to forfeit 194.78 million won ($176,431) he took in bribes related to the construction deal.

The court said it convicted Park of receiving the bribe money in return for using his influence to win government approval for a construction project to build a large-scale distribution center in southern Seoul from 2006-08.

The court, however, dismissed prosecutors' charges that Park ordered the Prime Minister's Office to conduct illegal surveillance of some government officials while Park was a presidential aide in 2008.

After serving as a presidential aide, Park moved to the Knowledge Economy Ministry in 2010 and stayed in the position for about a year.

The court, meanwhile, handed out a prison term of two and half a years to Lee Young-ho, a former presidential aide, for participating in the illegal surveillance scandal.

Lee In-kyu, a former senior official of the prime minister's office, was arrested after receiving a one-year prison term for receiving kickbacks related to the case. (Yonhap News)