The former aide to impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye had initially been acquitted in July of involvement in the blacklisting of of artists critical of Park's Government.

Cho was instead given a one-year jail term, suspended for two years, after she was found guilty of a lesser charge of perjury.

The appeals court has overturned the original Lower Court sentence and imprisoned Cho for two years after prosecutors, who argued that Cho actively participated in the scheme, contested the ruling.

They convicted her of involvement in the process of creating and managing the list of artists.

The court ruled that the blacklist, thought to have contained over 10,000 names, could not have operated without Cho's knowledge.

It had been alleged that Cho created a list of artists and cultural figures to be excluded from Government arts subsidies on political grounds.

Park's former chief of staff, Kim Ki-choon, was also arrested on the same charges last year.

Kim's sentence was increased from three years to four by the court today.

Park's impeachment centered around her links to Choi Soon-sil, her adviser, who allegedly exerted "undue influence" on policy-making, despite having no official Government role.

Cho Yang-ho's departure as Pyeongchang 2018 President last year was linked to the crisis, with it alleged that Choi was involved.

Cho Yoon-sun resigned from her role after being arrested in January 2017 with just over one year to go until Pyeongchang 2018.

At the final trial on July 3, the special counsel team investigating the case sought seven years in prison for Kim and six years for Cho Yoon-sun.

"It is unprecedented that the President and her aides, who are at the top of the highest powers, organised, planned and carried out such discriminatory treatment," the court said today, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.

"There is no right or wrong in culture - once the Government discriminates against those who think differently, it leads to totalitarianism."