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South Korea's ex-PM gets suspended sentence

29 January 2016 10:21 (UTC +04:00)

Baku – APA. South Korea's former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo received an 8-month jail term Friday for receiving bribes from a deceased businessman.

Still, the Seoul Central District Court suspended the sentence for two years and ordered him to forfeit 30 million won ($27,000), The Korea Herald reported.

Lee, who stepped down in April after mounting suspicion, was convicted of taking 30 million won at his election office in April 2013 from Sung Wan-jong, the late chairman of construction firm Keangnam Enterprises Inc.

A corruption scandal flared up after Sung left a note and a recorded interview claiming that he gave money to eight politicians, including Lee and Hong Joon-pyo, governor of South Gyeongsang Province, as well as President Park Geun-hye's former and current chiefs of staff.

Sung hanged himself on April 9 just hours before a court hearing that would have determined the legality of his arrest regarding his embezzlement charges