The Republic of Korea's former president Lee Myung-bak arrives at the prosecutors' office in Seoul, March 14, 2018. [Photo/Agencies] SEOUL - Lee Myung-bak, former president of the Republic of Korea, returned home on Thursday after a marathon interrogation by prosecutors over corruption, the last of the country's living ex-leaders to be embroiled in a criminal inquiry. Allegations of graft involving his relatives and aides during his term have mounted in recent weeks as prosecutors investigate multiple cases of bribery amounting to millions of dollars. The probe means that the country's all four living former presidents have been convicted, charged, or investigated for criminal offenses. Lee spent more than 21 hours at the prosecutors' office in Seoul from Wednesday morning, and did not reply to questions from journalists outside as he left. President Lee denied most of the charges, a prosecutor was quoted as telling Yonhap news agency. Lee, who was head of state from 2008 to 2013, has previously denounced the inquiry as political revenge and said on Wednesday he hoped it would be the last time in history that a ROK ex-leader was summoned for questioning by prosecutors. As a former president, I have a lot to say about this but I will spare my words, he told reporters when he arrived for the interrogation. Prosecutors are thought likely to ask a court for an arrest warrant for Lee in the coming days. But almost one in six ROK citizens - 15.3 percent - think he should be treated leniently because of his status as a former president, an opinion poll by Realmeter showed. The figure rose to 50 percent among supporters of the main opposition Liberty Korea party - which Lee led under a previous name - with only 38 percent believing he should be strictly punished according to the law. Among the population as a whole, 79.5 percent said he should receive no preferential treatment. The allegations against Lee include claims that the Samsung Group bought a presidential pardon in 2009 for its chairman Lee Kun-hee, who had been convicted of tax evasion and given a suspended jail sentence. Both Samsung and Lee have described the allegations as groundless. Agence France-presse rubber braceletsevent wristbandscheap silicone wristbands canadadebossed-wristbandfuck cancer braceletpaw print silicone braceletsprinted-wristbandembossed printed wristbandcolored rubber bands for braceletsprinted wristbandscolor-filled-wristbandembossed-wristband
Blizzards far less severe than those of a decade ago, forecaster saysThe current freezing temperatures and icy conditions in central and eastern regions will continue until Saturday, but things will be less severe overall than the disastrous blizzard of early 2008, the national weather authority said on Monday.Since Jan 23, blizzards with a mix of snow and rain have swept across 22 provinces in central, eastern and southern regions, bringing snow squalls and disrupting traffic, with the provinces of Hubei, Anhui, Hunan, Jiangsu and Jiangxi hit especially hard, the National Meteorological Center said.The blizzards have weakened since Sunday, but the freezing cold and ice are expected to last until Saturday, said Zhang Tao, chief forecaster from the center, adding that in some cities snow accumulations have exceeded 10 centimeters including in Hangzhou in Zhejiang province.In Hunan, one of the worst hit regions, over 4.6 million people have been affected by continuous snow since Thursday, and direct economic losses have reached 440 million yuan ($69.5 million) as of Sunday, the provincial civil affairs department said.Frequent blizzards, frigid temperatures, icy roads and disrupted traffic have been seen in central and southern regions, reminding people of the disasters brought by snow and ice in 2008.From Jan 10 to Feb 12, 2008, blizzards swept through 21 provinces, causing 107 deaths and damaging over 354,000 homes, with direct economic losses reaching 111 billion yuan, data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed.But the results from this current bout of weather (from Jan 23 to 28) were far from the severe impact in 2008, said Zhang, the chief forecaster.In January 2008, four blizzard events hit the central and southern regions one after the other, but this month only one bout appeared, making the impact far less severe, said Zhang, adding: In the coming week, though it will still be freezing, no snow will hit the region.Furthermore, since the disastrous 2008 blizzards, weather authorities nationwide have promoted better forecasting technologies, and improved the emergency information exchange system, he said.In 2008, it was beyond our capacity to forecast the weather situation more than 10 days ahead, but now we possess a clearer picture of the weather for up to 20 days, Zhang said. So we now have forecasts that no snow will come in early February, thus freeing these regions from the risk of suffering severe results like those seen in 2008.In addition, after high red and orange snowstorm or cold front alerts were initiated, authorities in meteorological, traffic, civil affairs and other related areas now undertake joint efforts to reduce negative impacts, he [email protected]?
