The friend of South Korean President Park Geun-hye at the centre of a corruption scandal has denied charges of fraud and abuse of power on the first day of her trial, media report.
The friend, Choi Soon-sil, 60, is charged with pressuring big businesses to pay money to foundations that backed Park's policy initiatives.
Prosecutors have named Park as an accomplice, although she has immunity from prosecution while in office. The scandal has led to Park's impeachment in parliament.
Park's powers have been suspended since the December 9 vote by parliament to impeach her. The Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to uphold or overturn the decision.
Choi denied all charges prosecutors brought against her on Monday and said she did not collude with Park, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Choi also said she did not want a jury trial, Yonhap said.
South Korean courts normally hold criminal trials presided over by a panel of judges, who deliver a verdict and sentence, while defendants in select cases are given the choice of a jury trial.
Choi, who had not appeared in public since arriving at a prosecutors' office on October 31, was led into court by two correctional officers, her head down, and wearing a bulky grey prison suit with a number on the chest.
She was represented by a team of lawyers including her main attorney, Lee Kyung-jae, who told Reuters last week that the accusations against her were "fiction".
Park, 64, whose father ruled the country for 18 years after seizing power in a 1961 coup, has described Choi as a friend she had turned to at difficult times and apologised for carelessness in her ties with her.
Park has denied any legal wrongdoing.
Prosecutors have portrayed Choi as the mastermind in several schemes to gain financial benefit from companies Choi controlled.
