이명박 전 대통령, 동부구치소 251일만에 재수감
Former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak headed to prison earlier today after a Seoul court upheld a 17-year term on corruption charges.
It is effectively a life sentence: unless he is pardoned or paroled, the 78-year-old will not leave jail until 2036, when he would be 95.
His return to jail means all four of South Korea's living former presidents are either behind bars or have served jail terms often as a result of investigations begun under successors who are political rivals.
Choi Jeong-yoon reports.
South Korea's 17th President Lee Myung-bak was put behind bars again on Monday afternoon.
This follows the Supreme Court's decision last week to confirm a 17-year prison sentence handed down by an appeals court for embezzlement, accepting bribes and other crimes.
The 78-year-old is incarcerated again after 251 days,...as he had been out of jail since February after he appealed a court's decision to deny him bail.
Lee was sent to Seoul Dongbu Detention Center at around 2 PM.
He had served time there for about a year after his arrest in 2018.
He is expected to be detained in a roughly 13-square-meter single cell on the top floor...fitted with a television, a mattress, a bathroom as well as a sink and a table.
A personal prison officer will be assigned to help him with his prison life out of deference to his former presidential status.
However, he will undergo physical examinations and a mug shot, and be deprived of his belongings just like other prisoners.
According to procedure, Lee would be moved to a prison in three to four weeks,... but there's a possibility that he serves his remaining 16 years in the detention center instead, given his age and underlying health conditions.
Lee was convicted of embezzling around 30 million U.S. dollars through an auto parts company... of which he effectively owned and accepting around 6 million dollars of bribes from Samsung Electronics.
Without a special pardon, he will be released in 2036, at the age of 94.
Choi Jeong-yoon, Arirang News.
