Chinanews, October 29 (Liu Cong) 17 years in prison!

A fine of 13 billion won and more than 5.78 billion won of criminal proceeds recovered!

On the morning of October 29, local time, the Supreme Court of South Korea (Supreme Court) made a final judgment on the corruption and bribery case of former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

　　From business to politics, from the mayor of Seoul to the president of South Korea, from 49% of the electoral vote to 16 counts... Lee Myung-bak failed to get rid of the "Blue House Curse", after Quan Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo, Park Geun-hye, South Korea’s fourth criminally convicted former president.

Facing the Supreme Court’s decision, how will he spend his life in prison, who is now 79 years old?

Figure 1 Data map: Former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

[Overwhelming victory in being elected president, accompanied by criticism all the way]

　　Li Mingbo was born in 1941. He experienced war in his childhood and lived in poverty as a teenager.

The hard life made him full of self-motivated. He achieved excellent grades during school. After finishing school, he entered the business world and climbed all the way, becoming a legend in the Korean business world.

　　In 1992, Lee Myung-bak began to abandon business and enter politics, was elected a member of parliament, and formally entered politics.

Ten years later, he was elected mayor of Seoul. During his tenure, he gained a reputation for the restoration of Cheonggyecheon and the construction of Seoul forests, and he gained popularity for himself.

On February 15, 2011 local time, the then President of South Korea Lee Myung-bak went to Pyeongchang, Gangwon-do to promote the bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

At the event, Li Mingbo personally launched the manned sled.

　　In December 2007, Lee Myung-bak won 49% of the votes in the presidential election and was elected as the new president of South Korea with an overwhelming advantage.

During his tenure, Lee Myung-bak successfully bid for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and held the G20 meeting, which was quite successful.

　　However, with him is not only support, but also criticism caused by various scandals.

　　At the beginning of taking office in 2008, Lee Myung-bak and his government pushed for an agreement to relax imports of American beef, triggering large-scale public protests, and he made public apologies twice.

In addition, he was also suspected of participating in the BBK financial investment consulting company stock price manipulation case that caused Korean investors to lose 600 billion won, and was considered the actual owner of the auto parts manufacturing company DAS, suspected of corruption.

On July 24, 2012 local time, the then South Korean President Lee Myung-bak apologized to the public for the corruption of his brother and his cronies.

Image source: CFP Vision China

[Suspected of 16 counts, "unprecedented corruption case"]

　　In 2013, Li Mingbo ended his five-year presidential term.

However, South Korean public opinion has never stopped questioning him and the prosecution's investigation.

　　On October 26, 2017, South Korean prosecutors set up an investigation team concerning illegal funds of DAS.

　　On March 22, 2018, the Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for Lee Myung-bak.

On April 9, South Korean prosecutors detained him for 16 counts, including corruption and bribery, abuse of power, tax evasion, breach of trust agreement, and violation of election laws.

The alleged embezzlement amounted to 34.9 billion won in funds, and 11.1 billion won in bribes were accepted.

　　On October 5 of the same year, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Lee Myung-bak to 15 years in prison, fined 13 billion won and recovered 8.2 billion won in the first instance sentence.

As a result, he became the fourth former president of South Korea to be criminally convicted after Chun Doo-hwan, Noh Tae-woo, and Park Geun-hye.

Data map: Former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

　　On February 19, 2020, the Seoul High Court made a second instance verdict.

The court sentenced Lee Myung-bak to 17 years in prison, a fine of 13 billion won, and more than 5.78 billion won of criminal proceeds.

　　South Korean prosecutors have stated that the Lee Myung-bak case is an "unprecedented corruption case" in South Korea.

On the afternoon of December 28, 2012 local time, former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and the then newly elected 18th South Korean President Park Geun-hye met at the Blue House in Seoul to exchange views on issues such as the transfer of power.

[Failed to get rid of the "Blue House Curse" and was jailed twice before]

　　Since the restoration of South Korea in 1945, the successive presidents of South Korea have ended in tragedy, which has led to the "blue house curse".

　　In early 2018, when his successor, Park Geun-hye, was behind bars, Lee Myung-bak was the only politician in South Korea who was still enjoying the courtesy of the former president.

However, he ultimately failed to get rid of the "blue house curse."

　　"I am willing to cooperate with the court as much as possible, but once I appear in court, I can't eat for three days. People must live first."

On March 22, 2018 local time, former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak walked out of his private house.

The Seoul Central District Court in South Korea issued a warrant for his arrest that night.

　　In 2018, after the court issued the arrest warrant for Lee Mingbo, he entered the detention center for the first time.

During the trial of the case, he refused to appear in court several times because of his poor health.

On July 30, the Seoul Eastern Detention Center approved Lee Myung-bo's application for medical parole on the grounds of sleep apnea syndrome and worsening diabetes.

　　On January 29, 2019, while the case was in the second instance, Li Mingbo’s lawyer Jiang Xun submitted an application for bail to the court.

The reason is that the case is difficult to end before his arrest expires.

At that time, Li Mingbo's detention period only had more than 70 days left.

　　At that time, 78-year-old Li Mingbo was very old and had to wear a ventilator even to sleep.

He worried that if he continued to carry it in the detention center, he would die suddenly.

Prior to this, he had been photographed slowly walking towards the courtroom with his fists supporting the wall with the help of prison guards.

In March of the same year, Li Mingbo was released on bail and left the detention center.

　　However, after the judgment of the second instance on February 19, 2020, Li Mingbo's bail order was revoked, he was arrested in court and sentenced to prison again.

Subsequently, Lee Myung-bak appealed to the South Korean Supreme Court.

Six days later, the Seoul High Court announced the suspension of Lee Myung-bak’s prison sentence until the Korean Supreme Court makes a ruling.

But after bail, Lee Myung-bak must stay at his home in southern Seoul.

　　Today, Li Mingbo, who is 79 years old, is about to go to jail again in the face of the final judgment of the Supreme Court.

And he, who is plagued by various diseases, does not know how he will spend xx years in prison.

(Finish)