Ex-President Arrested

[Anchor Lead]

Former President Lee Myung-bak has been arrested on a litany of corruption charges. The court approved his arrest warrant late Thursday night, saying the charges against him were clear and that there was a risk the ex-president would destroy evidence. Shortly after the arrest warrant was issued, the disgraced former leader posted a handwritten message on social media.

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Former President Lee Myung-bak is now under arrest. The Seoul Central District Court issued a warrant for his arrest at around 11 p.m. Thursday local time. The judge said the charges against the ex-leader were valid and he was likely to destroy evidence. The prosecutors immediately executed the arrest warrant. Lee Myung-bak, who was awaiting the results at his residence, was transferred to the Seoul Dongbu Detention Center. Now that the warrant is issued, prosecutors can investigate Lee after placing him under arrest for up to 20 days, until April 11. The arrest warrant review was carried out using submitted documents only. The court chose this method because Lee refused to appear for questioning. The prosecutors submitted 80-thousand pages of documents and investigation records to the court to prove the charges. The former conservative leader's legal team submitted dozens of pages of Lee's own opinion. Lee Myung-bak is the fourth South Korean ex-president to be detained. Contrary to expectations, Lee did not make any public comment on the arrest prior to leaving his residence, and instead posted a three-page handwritten message via social media. He claims to have tried to conduct clean politics, but his efforts fell short of the expectations of the Korean people. Lee Myung-bak added, someday he hopes to recover his true self to be able to have his say, and vowed to pray for Korea.