Police officers move the body of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon to the Seoul National University Hospital on Friday. (Yonhap)
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon was found dead on Friday, according to police, in what appears to be one of the country’s highest-profile suicides in recent history.
The body of Park, 64, was found at Mount Bukak, hours after he was reported missing.
The exact cause of his death remained under investigation.
Park’s daughter filed a police report at 5:17 p.m. that he “had left home four to five hours ago after leaving words like a will, with his phone currently off.”
More than 770 police officers, firetrucks and an ambulance were mobilized to track the whereabouts of Park, searching areas around his home and nearby the temple Gilsangsa in Seongbuk-dong in Seoul, where his cellphone signal was last detected.
CoolyRanks on July 9th, 2020 at 19:48 UTC »
I had the pleasure of meeting him in 2017. He handled things well during the protests. Korea's suicide issue runs so deep. RIP.
lemorange on July 9th, 2020 at 17:37 UTC »
The previous one resigned over free school lunch...
ShineOnBeTheMan on July 9th, 2020 at 16:42 UTC »
Reputation matters a lot in Korea and it's not uncommon for people to lose everything once their name is tarnished, whether the accusations are real or not. Unfortunate that he couldn't handle the allegations.