Tag: Lee Myung-bak

Former President Lee Myung-bak Attends First Official Event Since Being Released from Prison

Former President Lee Myung-bak has made his first official event one where he paid his respects to the 46 sailors murdered by North Korea during the sinking of the Cheonan:

Former President Lee Myung-bak checks graves for sailors killed in North Korea’s sinking of a South Korean warship in 2010 at a national cemetery in Daejeon, Wednesday. Yonhap

Former President Lee Myung-bak visited a national cemetery in the central city of Daejeon on Wednesday to pay respects to sailors killed in North Korea’s sinking of a South Korean warship in 2010. 

The visit was Lee’s first official activity after he was released from prison on a special pardon by President Yoon Suk Yeol in December. The sinking of the warship Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors, happened when Lee was in office, and he pledged to visit the cemetery every year, even after leaving office.

“I will pray for national prosperity and the security of the Republic of Korea while honoring the sacrificial spirit on the front line of freedom,” Lee wrote in the visitors’ book at the cemetery, about 140 kilometers south of Seoul.

Lee chose the visit to the national cemetery as his first official activity since his pardon to keep his promise to visit the cemetery every year while he is alive, Hong Sang-pyo, Lee’s aide and former presidential secretary for press affairs, said. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Picture of the Day: President Lee Returns Home

Pardoned ex-President Lee returns home
Pardoned ex-President Lee returns home
Former President Lee Myung-bak speaks in a message to the nation as he returns home from Seoul University Hospital in the capital on Dec. 30, 2022, following a special pardon for corruption from the Yoon Suk Yeol government on Dec. 27 that canceled the remaining 15 years of his 17-year prison term. Lee had been hospitalized due to diabetes and other chronic ailments. (Yonhap)

Former President Lee Expected to Receive a Pardon Later this Month

It looks like President Yoon is about to follow through on one of his campaign promises:

Lee Myung-bak

Former President Lee Myung-bak is expected to receive a special pardon later this year as part of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s second round of special pardons.

According to the presidential office, Yoon is expected to grant special pardons at the end of the year. The presidential pardons are likely to be granted on December 28.

The former president is serving a 17-year prison sentence for embezzlement and bribery. Lee, who governed the country from 2008 to 2013, was charged with 16 criminal allegations in 2018 and sentenced in 2020. 

Currently, Lee is out of prison, having been granted a temporary suspension of his sentence due to health issues. He initially filed the request for a three-month temporary suspension in June and then requested an extension for another three months in September. His suspension is set to expire on Dec. 28 at midnight. 

The Ministry of Justice will review the beneficiaries of the pardon on Dec. 20 and the government is expected to announce the official list on Dec. 27 after a Cabinet meeting.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Former President Lee Myung-bak Released from Prison Due to Declining Health

Former President Lee is temporarily released from prison for health issues, but I would not be surprised if this is a prelude to him being pardoned in the near future:

Former President Lee Myung-bak (Yonhap)

The prosecution suspended the imprisonment of former President Lee Myung-bak for three months due to health reasons Tuesday, more than a year and a half after the Supreme Court finalized a 17-year sentence for him for corruption.

The Suwon District Prosecutors Office made the decision to release Lee from the Anyang Correctional Institution, after the 81-year-old former president filed for suspension of his imprisonment earlier this month, citing deteriorating health.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

High Ranking Government Official Says Pardon for Ex-President Lee Myung-bak May Happen in the Coming Weeks

It is looking like it is only a matter of time before ex-President Lee Myung-bak receives a pardon:

Former President Lee Myung-bak [JOONGANG PHOTO]
Lee Myung-bak

A high-level official in Yoon’s office told the JoongAng Ilbo Wednesday that the president will await the prosecutors’ decision. The head of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, Hong Seung-wook, is known to be close to Yoon, who formerly served as head of the state prosecution agency.  
   
Even if Hong green-lights Lee’s suspension, the former president’s jail term will remain valid. Some legal experts predict Hong will authorize Lee’s suspension and Yoon will follow up with a presidential pardon on Liberation Day to finally set Lee free.  
   
Talk about a pardon for Lee has been going for months, especially after former conservative President Park Geun-hye was pardoned last December by former liberal President Moon Jae-in. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

President Elect Yoon to Ask President Moon to Pardon former ROK President

This should be a very interesting meeting considering how much Moon and Yoon reportedly dislike each other:

In this file photo, a group of former lawmakers holds a news conference near the presidential office in Seoul on Jan. 24, 2022, calling for the release of former President Lee Myung-bak. The 81-year-old is serving a 17-year sentence for embezzlement and bribery convictions at the Anyang Correctional Institution, 23 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is likely to ask President Moon Jae-in to grant a special pardon to jailed former President Lee Myung-bak when they hold a meeting this week, a senior official close to Yoon said Monday. 

Moon and Yoon are scheduled to meet at the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday, according to political sources.

They will discuss a range of issues, including government transition, coronavirus responses and North Korea’s likely long-range missile test, during the meeting, which will be their first since June 2020, when Yoon was prosecutor general, they said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it is probably going to be a tough sell to pardon Lee Myung-bak who the Korean left despises for investigating former president Roh Moo-hyun. The investigation uncovered corruption around Roh who ended up committing suicide. The Korean left has long blamed Lee for the suicide and investigating him and putting him in jail was a form of payback.

DPK Chair Proposes Pardoning former Korean Presidents Park Geun-hye Lee Myung-bak

It looks like the ruling party realizes that the end of the Moon administration is nearing which means the potential of the conservatives winning the next election. If that was to happen no doubt the conservatives would look to start locking up their liberal political adversaries just like the Moon administration has done to them:

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Nak-yon answers reporters after paying tribute to patriots buried at Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak District, southern Seoul, Friday, New Year’s Day. Yonhap

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Nak-yon is seeking to propose pardons for former presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, who have been behind bars on corruption charges, to President Moon Jae-in.

“I will propose pardons for the two former presidents to President Moon Jae-in at an appropriate time,” Lee said during a New Year interview with local news agency Yonhap. Lee said the pardons of the two former presidents could be a way to promote reconciliation and overcome the ideological gap between conservatives and liberals.

“This year is the de facto final year for President Moon to practice policies, and this matter (of pardoning the two former presidents) needs to be solved at a right time,” Lee said. “I am seeking to propose it (to President Moon) apart from pros and cons from the supporters of the ruling bloc. … The party will have to play a more active role from now on.”

As former President Lee was sentenced to 17 years by the Supreme Court last October while Park is still on trial, a special pardon and suspension of sentence will be sought for each case, if President Moon pardons the two former presidents.

Korea Times

Something that is important to remember is that this is about more than just Presidents Park and Lee being locked up, there has been numerous journalists and conservative commentators prosecuted and locked up as well for speaking out against the Moon administration.

Former President Lee Temporarily Out of Jail for Health Reasons

Here is the latest on the status of former President Lee:

Former President Lee Myung-bak is set to be released from jail later Tuesday, six days after he was put into custody following a court ruling, as he reappealed against the recent ruling.

The release comes after an appellate court sentenced him to 17 years in prison last week on charges of bribery and embezzlement.

He was taken back into custody after he was released on bail on health concerns in March 2019.

Lee, who re-appealed last week‘s ruling, is known to have cited relevant law to get released.

The 78-year-old, who is currently held at a detention center in Seoul, is expected to be let go at midnight.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.