Former South Korean President Ordered Back to Prison
South Korean president Lee Myung-bak in 2009 (Wikimedia Commons).
The Supreme Court of South Korea has upheld a lower court’s ruling sentencing former President Lee Myung-bak to 17 years in prison on October 29. He was found guilty of embezzlement and bribery charges
Having already served a year behind bars, the 78-year-old former president has been out of jail since February on bail. According to an official from the Ministry of Justice, there is a chance that the former president may serve his time in the detention center, given his age and underlying health conditions.
Mr. Lee governed the country from 2008-2013. During his presidency, he did not face any direct charges against him. His relief of office was consistent with the South Korean constitution that restricts all presidents to a single five-year term in office.
Mr. Lee, nevertheless, was not a popular president during his term. A few months after his inauguration, a survey conducted by the ruling Grand National Party’s Yeouido Institute showed that his approval ratings had already fallen to 28 percent. Although all of South Korea’s former presidents saw a decrease in popularity at the end of their respective terms, many were popular leaders at the beginning of their terms, such as Kim Young-sam, Kim Dae-jung, and Roh Moo-hyun, who all earned approval ratings of over 70 percent. Mr. Lee’s “global diplomacy” campaign sought to strengthen South Korea’s relationship with the United States through a greater emphasis on free market solutions. People protested the resumption of the U.S. beef imports, the privatization of public companies, as well as construction of a canal.
In April 2018, five years after leaving the office, Mr. Lee was charged with 16 counts of criminal allegations, including embezzlement in connection with the auto parts company Das, and receiving bribes from various companies and individuals, including Samsung Electronics.
In October 2018, a Seoul district court sentenced Mr. Lee to 15 years in prison, convicting him of collecting 8.5 billion won ($7.5 million) in bribes from various sources.
According to prosecutors, Mr. Lee did favors for Samsung executives in return for the bribes, including granting a presidential pardon to Lee Kun-hee, the company’s chairman, who was convicted of embezzlement and tax evasion in 2009. Lee claimed that he had decided to grant the Samsung chairman amnesty so that he could retain his membership on the International Olympic Committee, and lead South Korea’s bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
The presidential pardon of Lee Kun-hee was criticized as an example of how collusion between politics and business has often allowed top businessmen found guilty of serious corporate crimes to walk free in South Korea.