Park Won-soon’s body found on a mountain in north Seoul, police said (Reuters)
Seoul:
Seoul mayor Park Won-soon, long regarded as a potential South Korean presidential candidate, was found dead, police said on Friday. He was 64 years old.
On Wednesday, a former Seoul city employee filed a complaint against him for sexual harassment.
Park’s body was found on a mountain in north Seoul, police said hours after hundreds of officers began to search for it.
If Park proves that he committed suicide, he would be the most prominent South Korean politician since former President Roh Moo-hyun, who jumped off a cliff in 2009 after being questioned about allegations of corruption involving members of his family.
Park’s daughter reported her disappearance Thursday afternoon, saying her father has been inaccessible for several hours, police said.
He left a message that sounded like “the last words” and his phone had been turned off, she said to the police.
A prominent figure in the ruling center-left Democratic Party, Park has ruled the sprawling capital of South Korea – home to almost a fifth of the national population – for almost a decade.
He has always been mentioned as a potential candidate in the race to succeed President Moon Jae-in, and did not deny the ambitions on this front when AFP asked for it earlier this year.
Park had a similar background to Moon as a student activist during the South Korean military dictatorship and later a human rights lawyer.
He was expelled from Seoul National University in 1975, barely a month after entering the prestigious school, for participating in a rally against former President Park Chung-hee, and imprisoned for four months.
– From prison to the courthouse –
But he described his time in prison as a happy and productive period that allowed him to formulate his life goals.
After graduating, Park entered law and defended many political activists in the 1980s and 1990s.
He helped launch Popular Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, an influential NGO that pushes to reform the conglomerates that dominate South Korean affairs.
Park also founded the Beautiful Foundation – a philanthropic group that promotes volunteerism and community service – in the hopes of giving people the opportunity to “feel wonderful and beautiful” by donating to their cause.
It became one of the largest non-profit organizations in South Korea and launched Beautiful Stores, a charitable chain of stores inspired by British Oxfam stores.
With glasses and soft features, Park was considered a political novice when he entered the race for mayor of Seoul as an independent candidate in 2011, but he beat Na Kyung-won, the most important legislator of the party. conservative then in power.
He then joined the Democratic Party and made a name for himself as a three-year mayor of the South Korean capital – his final victory coming in a landslide in 2018 when he won more than 50%. voices.
During his campaign, Park – known for his hardworking and down-to-earth character – committed to creating a cleaner city that guarantees gender equality and building peace between North Korea and Korea from South.
On his official Twitter account, Park introduced himself as a “Social Designer”, saying, “These days, I … dream of creating Seoul that puts people first. Please join me in this dream . “
But he also gained a reputation as a workaholic boss, according to reports that a handful of government officials in the city of Seoul committed suicide because of the work-related stress he suffered.
Earlier this week, he courted controversy by being one of many senior Democratic Party politicians to attend the funeral of the mother of Ahn Hee-jung, a former provincial governor convicted of sex offenses. last year.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
