Ex-S. Korea President denies corruption charges
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E-mail CGTN, May 24, 2018
Former S. Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Wednesday appeared at the first trial over corruption charges, including bribery and embezzlement.
Dressed in black suit and white shirt, Lee entered the courtroom at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, holding a document envelope.
Lee, who had served the five-year presidency that began in early 2008, was taken into custody on March 22 for multiple corruption charges.
The conservative president was charged with taking about 10 million US dollars in bribes and embezzling tens of millions of U.S. dollars in DAS, a local auto parts manufacturer which prosecutors believe is actually owned by Lee under the borrowed name of his brother.
Lee said in a prepared statement, taken from the envelope, that the prosecutors' indictment on his charges was excessive, reiterating his claim that DAS belongs to his brother.
He also denied the charge of receiving bribes from the Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-run conglomerate, calling it a "shock and insult" to him.
Lee's successor Park Geun-hye, the first S. Korean president impeached while in office, was sentenced to 24 years in jail and fined some US$17 million at the first trial over corruption charges.
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