SEOUL, South Korea—South Korean prosecutors granted ex-President Lee Myung-bak a three-month release from prison over health concerns Tuesday after he served less than three years of a 17-year sentence for corruption.
Lee, 80, could be sent back to prison at the end of that period, barring further health setbacks, but there is also the possibility that he might be pardoned before then by President Yoon Suk Yeol, a fellow conservative who recently expressed a reluctance to keep him behind bars.
The Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement to The Associated Press it decided to suspend the execution of Lee’s sentence for three months after a committee acknowledged the risk of a “significant deterioration” in his health. The office didn’t elaborate on the health of Lee, who submitted a request for a stay of sentence earlier this month….