South Korean police announced they had found the body of the mayor of the capital, Park Won-soon, near an apartment complex in Seoul, midnight last night, seven hours after he disappeared from his home.
Police found Park's body, whose suicide hypothesis was weighted, during a search operation around the Mount Buk-aek area in Seoul, after his daughter was reported missing earlier, according to Yonhap News.
Park's daughter reported to the police at 5:17 pm local time yesterday, stating that he “left the house four to five hours ago, after he left a letter to his daughter who looked like a will, and closed his phone.”
It turns out that Park left his residence in Jeong Roo district in Seoul around 10:44 am, wearing a black hat and carrying a black backpack.
The last place to track a signal from the Park mobile phone was a place near the Gail Sangsa Buddhist temple in Songbuk district in northeastern Seoul.
Police found Park's body about 7 hours after his disappearance was reported, as they began a comprehensive search for Park, by deploying drones and police dogs, and rescue workers were also sent to the search site.
The reason for Park's disappearance or death is not yet clear. SBS reported that one of Park's secretaries had filed a complaint with the police, on Wednesday night, for sexual harassment in 2017.
The SBS report said the secretary told police investigators that an unspecified number of other female employees in Seoul City Hall - the city's government headquarters - had experienced sexual harassment by Park.
The police refused to confirm any information related to the case. Police said they would investigate the circumstances of the accident to find out exactly what caused Mayor Park's death.