20-year jail term demanded for ex-S. Korean president

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S. Korean prosecutors on Thursday demanded 20 years in jail for former President Lee Myung-bak for corruption and other charges, Yonhap reported.

Prosecutors also called for a 15 billion won (13.4 million US dollars) fine and a forfeiture of 11.1 billion won for the disgraced ex-leader.

Lee, who served a five-year presidency from early 2008, was arrest in late March, before being indicted in the following month on 16 counts of corruption charges including bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power.

The logo of Samsung Electronics is seen outside the Samsung building in Seoul, July 31, 2018. /VCG Photo

The 76-year-old was accused of embezzling tens of millions of US dollars from DAS, a local auto parts manufacturer that is believed to have been owned by Lee under borrowed names.

Lee was charged with taking bribes from the country's spy agency and Samsung Electronics as well as the head of a state-run banking group and a politician.

Samsung was suspected of paying litigation expenses in the US lawsuit for DAS, which prosecutors saw as a bribe to the former president.

Lee was also charged with illegally moving confidential presidential documents from the presidential Blue House to his private building after retirement.

Prosecutors said the defendant abused his presidential authority for his personal interest and tainted the country's constitutional history.

The court will announce its verdict early next month.

(With input from Xinhua)