Person1941
Lee Myung-bak
17th President (2008–2013)
He served as president of Hyundai Engineering & Construction and as Mayor of Seoul, during which he restored the Cheonggyecheon stream. He was elected president in 2007 as the Grand National Party candidate. In office he hosted the 2010 G20 Seoul Summit and renegotiated the Korea–US Free Trade Agreement, which took effect in 2012. The sinking of the Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010 froze inter-Korean relations. After leaving office, in 2020 the Supreme Court upheld a prison sentence for embezzlement and bribery, and he received a special pardon in December 2022.