Former President Lee Myung-bak Temporarily Released...Prosecutors Decide on 3-Month Suspension of Sentence Execution

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Former President Lee Myung-bak (81), currently serving time at Anyang Prison in Gyeonggi Province, will be temporarily released.

The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office decided on the 28th to suspend the execution of Lee's sentence for three months. Accordingly, Lee, who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for embezzlement and bribery, will be temporarily released after serving one year and seven months. On the same day, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office held a sentence execution suspension review committee meeting and accepted Lee's application for suspension of sentence execution. The review committee reportedly concluded that "considering Lee's health condition, there is a concern that the execution of the sentence could severely harm his health." Lee's side submitted the application for suspension of sentence execution in March due to health reasons.

According to our Criminal Procedure Act, there are seven reasons for suspending the execution of imprisonment, including when the execution of the sentence is likely to severely harm health or threaten life, when the person is aged 70 or older, when the person is more than six months pregnant, or when there is no one to protect elderly direct ascendants or young direct descendants.

Lee has been hospitalized at Seoul National University Hospital since last week for examinations and treatment related to chronic illnesses. He has repeatedly been admitted to and discharged from the hospital during his imprisonment due to chronic illnesses such as diabetes. Lee was sentenced to 17 years in prison by the Supreme Court on charges including embezzlement and bribery and was incarcerated at Seoul Eastern Detention Center in November 2020. In December of the same year, he applied for suspension of sentence execution citing concerns over COVID-19 infection, but it was denied. Due to a COVID-19 cluster infection incident, Lee was transferred to Anyang Prison in February.