South Korea has allocated 1.19 billion won ($1.63 million) next year for the honorable treatment of the country's former presidents, the interior ministry said Tuesday.
The budget, approved by the National Assembly on Saturday, includes 149 million won to be given to ex-President Lee Myung-bak and 328 million won in total to be spent on the spouses of three late presidents -- Kim Young-sam, Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
Under the law, former presidents are given pensions worth 95 percent of the salary they received while in office. The spouse of a late president is granted 70 percent.
Those who are impeached or receive a prison term are deprived of the treatment, except for essential security service for a certain period.
An opposition-led impeachment vote against scandal-hit President Park Geun-hye is slated for Friday. If the motion is supported by at least 200 lawmakers in the 300-seat National Assembly and approved by the Constitutional Court, Park will not be able to benefit from the law from the following months. (Yonhap)
