MAYOR DEAD AFTER SEX ABUSE CLAIM
PARK Won-soon, the powerful and outspoken mayor of Seoul and a potential South Korean presidential candidate, was found dead on Friday after a suspected suicide. He was 64.
Mr Park’s body was found on a mountain north of the city, police said, after his family had reported him missing, sparking a frantic search by hundreds of officers.
Police said no suicide note was found, but Yonhap news agency reported that he was “presumed to have taken his own life”.
A former Seoul City employee had filed a police complaint against him, allegedly involving sexual harassment. Mr Park’s daughter contacted police on Thursday, saying her father had been unreachable. He left a message that sounded like “last words” and his phone had been turned off, she said.
A leading figure in the country’s ruling Democratic party, Mr Park was a favoured candidate to succeed President Moon Jae-in. He did not deny his presidential ambitions in an interview earlier this year.