Ex-South Korean President Lee back to prison after ruling
Former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has been sent back to prison, days after the country’s top court upheld his 17-year prison term for corruption crimes
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak was sent back to prison on Monday, four days after the country’s top court upheld his 17-year prison term for corruption crimes.
South Korean television stations showed a convoy of black vehicles, including one carrying Lee, arriving at Seoul’s Dongbu Detention Center. Center officials later confirmed his imprisonment.
Earlier Monday, Lee was taken from his home to a Seoul prosecutors' office to be formally notified about his sentence and undergo identification checks there.
Lee, 78, was convicted of taking bribes from big businesses including Samsung, embezzling corporate funds from a company that he owned and committing other corruption-related crimes before and when he served as president from 2008-13.
A Seoul district court initially sentenced Lee to 15 years in prison in 2018. He was bailed out of prison several months later but was taken back into custody this February, after an appellate court handed down a 17-year term and canceled his bail. Days later, however, he was released again after he appealed the ruling on his bail cancellation.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court confirmed the 17-year term.
Lee, a former Hyundai CEO, won the 2007 presidential election on a promise to reinvigorate the country’s economy. But his five years in office were marred by the global financial crisis, massive public protests over the resumption of U.S. beef imports and military animosities with North Korea.
Lee’s corruption case erupted after his successor, fellow conservative Park Geun-hye, was removed from the presidency and jailed over a separate corruption scandal in 2016 and 2017 that sparked one of the biggest anti-government protests in South Korea.