SEOUL -- The Supreme Court of South Korea has upheld a 17-year prison sentence for Lee Myung-bak, the country's fourth president to be convicted of crimes after leaving office.
The court ruled Thursday that Lee had received 8.9 billion won ($7.85 million at current rates) in bribes from Samsung Electronics, in the form of legal fees for a settlement involving an auto parts maker essentially owned by the former president. In exchange, he pardoned Lee Kun-hee, the Samsung Electronics chairman who had been convicted of tax evasion, the court said.
