Ex-President Lee is going home Friday following pardon

This Feb. 10, 2021, file photo shows former President Lee Myung-bak leaving the Seoul National University Hospital in central Seoul to return to a detention center in Anyang, just south of Seoul. Yonhap

Former President Lee Myung-bak will leave the hospital and return to his home in southern Seoul on Friday following a special presidential pardon, aides said, amid speculation he could deliver a statement in person.

Lee was pardoned at the beginning of Wednesday while serving a 17-year prison term for bribery and embezzlement. The pardon canceled his remaining prison term of about 15 years and about 8.2 billion won ($6.47 million) of unpaid fines.

The 81-year-old has been staying at a hospital in Seoul due to diabetes and other chronic ailments. (Yonhap)