South Korea to pardon former leader Lee for corruption crimes
Seoul (AP): The South Korean government of President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday it will grant a special pardon to ex-President Lee Myung-bak, who was sentenced to a 17-year prison term for a range of corruption crimes.
The Justice Ministry said in a statement that Lee is among 1,373 convicts who will be pardoned Wednesday. It said it has decided to include some politicians, such as Lee, as part of efforts to promote a national unity.
Lee, 81, was released from prison temporarily in June over health concerns.
The CEO-turned-conservative hero had been convicted of taking bribes from big businesses including Samsung, embezzling funds from a company that he owned, and other corruption-related crimes before and during his presidency from 2008 to 2013.
He was South Korea's first president with a business background and once symbolised the country's economic rise.
He began his business career with an entry-level job at Hyundai Group's construction arm in the mid-1960s, before he rose to CEO of 10 companies under Hyundai Group and led the group's rapid rise at a time when South Korea's economy grew explosively from the rubble of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Lee's corruption case erupted after his successor and fellow conservative Park Geun-hye was ousted and sent to jail over a separate 2016-17 corruption scandal. The back-to-back scandals deeply hurt conservatives in South Korea and deepened a national divide.
Park, who was serving a lengthy prison term, was pardoned in December 2021, when South Korea was governed by Yoon's liberal predecessor, Moon Jae-in.
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Horse injured, vehicles damaged as billboard collapses in Pune due to strong winds
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Pune (PTI): A horse was injured and a few vehicles were damaged after a hoarding collapsed due to strong winds in Maharashtra’s Pune city, police said.
The billboard crashed to the ground between 5 pm and 6 pm on Saturday outside a wedding hall near Kavdi Pat toll booth on the Pune-Solapur Highway, an official said.
The incident comes days after a giant illegal billboard in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar area collapsed on a petrol pump due to gusty winds and unseasonal rains, killing 16 persons and injuring 75.
Citing preliminary information about the incident in Pune, the police on Saturday said the hoarding collapsed due to strong winds and it fell on a horse, and a few vehicles, including one brought by a band party, outside the Gulmohar Lawns wedding hall.
The injured horse was rescued and taken for treatment, the official said.
