The convicted chairman of food and entertainment conglomerate CJ Group has asked to prolong the suspension of his imprisonment due to poor health, his lawyer said Wednesday.
The Supreme Court had suspended the confinement of Lee Jay-hyun, who was found guilty of various corruption charges, for four months from November to March 21.
"Lee's health had deteriorated further from last year," his attorney said. "Taking him into custody again could be potentially fatal."
In an appeals court ruling in September, the 54-year-old received a reduced jail term of three years for misappropriating some 160 billion won ($150 million) in company money to create offshore slush funds and dodging taxes in the process.
Lee, who has undergone a kidney transplant, claims that he suffers from multiple illnesses such as Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and a kidney disease.
Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is an inherited neurological disease characterized by the progressive degeneration of muscles in the feet, lower legs and hands.
The chairman has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court against the conviction. (Yonhap)
