ZCZC
BFF-12
SKOREA-POLITICS-SUICIDE-BRIBERY
S. Korea MP embroiled in bribery scandal commits suicide
SEOUL, July 23, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A prominent South Korean lawmaker who was
being probed over a bribery scandal has committed suicide, police said
Monday.
Roh Hoe-chan, a three-term lawmaker of the left-leaning Justice Party had
been under investigation for allegedly receiving 50 million won ($44,300)
from a powerful political blogger linked to many top politicians.
The blogger, widely known by his online nickname “Druking”, is currently
on trial for using illegal hacking programmes to sway public opinion on
Naver, the South’s top online portal.
“Druking” is accused of artificially increasing the number of positive
responses — the equivalent of Facebook’s “Like” function — to tens of
thousands of online comments on Naver that attacked or supported politicians
or political parties in a bid to win personal favours.
In a suicide note left in a Seoul apartment, Roh admitted he had received
money from the blogger, but denied he had offered any favour in return, the
Yonhap news agency said.
He had been expected to be summoned soon by prosecutors for questioning.
Police said Roh was found dead at the gate of the same apartment building
and that it appeared he had jumped to his death.
Roh was a prominent labour rights activist before becoming a lawmaker in
2004. The South’s presidential Blue House offered condolences over the
“heartbreaking event.”
“I express my deepest condolences over his death from the depths of my
heart,” Huh Ik-bum, a senior prosecutor leading the probe over the scandal,
told reporters.
“I personally admired him as a politician,” he said.
South Korea has one of the world’s highest suicide rates, and suicides of
public figures — from politicians to businessmen — embroiled in humiliating
scandals make frequent headlines.
Late former president Roh Moo-hyun, who served from 2003 to 2008, shocked
the nation in 2009 when he jumped off a cliff while being investigated over a
corruption scandal.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1036 hrs