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 custom logo wristbandscle usb bracelet siliconeblue rubber bracelet meaningcustom his and her braceletsrubber bracelets
A male lion in the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. [Photo by Zheng Yang/Provided to China Daily] BEIJING -- Increasing public awareness of wildlife protection among Chinese people and their participation will make a difference in the global cause of wildlife conservation, a famed Chinese conservationist told Xinhua in a recent interview. Zhuo Qiang, also known and aliased as Simba, said China, as a major developing country with an earnest sense of responsibility towards the shared destiny of humankind, is actively participating in the global pursuit of an ecological civilization, and this has brought hope and progress to the cause. Over the weekend, a few hundred attendees from home and abroad joined Zhuo in the Run for Wildlife, a charitable event held on the western outskirts of Beijing. While running up and down a 5-km hilly path across the forest park, participants vowed to reject wildlife products and do what they can to protect endangered species and defend the world ecosystem. It is delightful to see more and more Chinese people become aware and join the cause to protect wildlife, Zhuo said, who flew back from Kenya to support the event organized by Nature Guardian, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting habitat conservation, public education and international exchange between China and Africa. In 2011, Zhuo traveled to Mara-Serengeti savannah, where he has been staying with the indigenous Maasai people and working with local conservationists at Ol Kinyei Conservancy, a sanctuary for wildlife covering 260,000 hectares of wilderness. In recent years, Zhuo and his team have welcomed many Chinese visitors including children who offered to volunteer for the project. Coming back from Kenya, Chinese volunteers shared their experience and called for an immediate end to the consumption of wildlife products, such as ivory, rhino horn, pangolin scales and big cat bones.
