Ex-President Lee to leave hospital Friday following special presidential pardon

▲ This Feb. 10, 2021, file photo shows former President Lee Myung-bak leaving the Seoul National University Hospital in central Seoul to return to a detention center in Anyang, just south of Seoul. (Yonhap)

ex-president-hospital discharge

Ex-President Lee to leave hospital Friday following special presidential pardon

SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Yonhap) -- Former President Lee Myung-bak will leave the hospital and return to his home in southern Seoul on Friday following a special presidential pardon, aides said, amid speculation he could deliver a statement in person.

Lee was pardoned at the beginning of Wednesday while serving a 17-year prison term for bribery and embezzlement. The pardon canceled his remaining prison term of about 15 years and about 8.2 billion won (US$6.47 million) of unpaid fines.

The 81-year-old has been staying at a hospital in Seoul due to diabetes and other chronic ailments.

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