Seoul mayor found dead after claim of abuse
SEOUL, South Korea — The mayor of Seoul, the country’s second-most powerful official and a potential presidential candidate, was found dead just days after a secretary in his office told the police that he had sexually harassed her since 2017, authorities said Friday.
A Seoul police officer confirmed early Friday that the body of the mayor, Park Won-soon, had been discovered on a hill in northern Seoul, several hours after his daughter had reported him missing. The police offered no immediate details.
Word of the mayor’s death and its possible links to sexual misconduct sent shock waves across the country, not only because Park was a political star but also because he had long been seen as a champion of women’s rights. His positions stood out in a country where men dominate society’s upper echelons, enforcing a strictly hierarchical code that analysts say makes women vulnerable to abuse and forces its victims to stay silent.
Park, 64, had canceled his official schedule and called in sick to City Hall on Thursday, the day after the secretary had filed her complaint. His daughter told police that he had left home after leaving a cryptic, “will-like message,” according to Yonhap, the national news agency, which cited an anonymous police source. That detail immediately fueled speculation that Park could have taken his own life.
The discovery of Park’s body came after nearly 600 police officers and emergency medical workers, aided by police dogs, searched the hills in northern Seoul, where his cellphone signal had last been detected.
Park, who was serving his third term as mayor of Seoul, a city of 10 million, had often been cited as a possible successor to President Moon Jae-in, whose single five-year term is set to expire in 2022. Park’s mayoral term had been scheduled to end in 2022.