Tag: suicide

Here is the latest update on the suicide of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon:

On Friday, city authorities unveiled a note Park left at his official residence.

Park said he is “sorry” to everyone and specifically mentioned that he is sorry to his family for “causing only pain.”

He asked to be cremated and be scattered at his parent’s graves. The message did not mention the sexual harassment allegations raised against Park.

The mayor was reportedly facing a probe into the allegations after a female former secretary filed a criminal complaint on Wednesday over unwanted “physical contact” and “inappropriate” messages.

In accordance with the law, the case was automatically terminated upon the mayor’s death. (…….)

When asked whether the city plans to open an investigation, city officials said they are “not yet aware” of the allegations and have not reviewed such plan.

The city government said that Park’s funeral will be held in the fashion of a mayoral funeral for five days. Funerals in Korea generally last for three days.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it is becoming pretty clear why Park committed suicide. Instead of being reviled and possibly jailed for sexual misconduct like what happened to former Governor An Jee-hung, Park is being honored and revered. The sexual misconduct allegations will slowly be forgotten.

Here is the latest on the alleged fraud surrounding the fundraising efforts in support of the Korean comfort women by politically connected Yoon Mee-hyang:

The head of a shelter for Japanese wartime sexual slavery survivors run by a civic group under a prosecution probe was found dead in her apartment in Paju, Gyeonggi, Sunday, said police Sunday.    
   
Sohn, the 60-year-old head of the Peaceful Our Home located in Mapo District, western Seoul, was found dead Saturday night at 10:35 p.m. in the bathroom nearest to the entrance of her fourth-floor apartment, according to the Paju police precinct.  
   
The shelter is run by the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, which had been undergoing a probe by the prosecution for allegations of accounting fraud and misuse of donations.  
   
Prosecutors raided the Korean Council’s office, its museum and the shelter for the so-called comfort women victims on May 20 and 21.    
   
Sohn’s acquaintances contacted police Saturday afternoon when she couldn’t be reached. She was already dead when police discovered her.    
   
Police said that there was no evidence of an intruder into Sohn’s home and that her death was not being treated as suspicious.     
   
A police official said that based on the circumstances, Sohn’s death is highly likely to be a suicide. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but this reminds me of when former President Roh Moo-hyun committed suicide to protect all the corrupt people around him. I guess we will see if this suicide has the same effect for Yoon Mee-hyang.

Good job by the USFK civilian employee responding to an attempted suicide on the Mapo Bridge in Seoul:

 Andres Torres was out for an early morning bike ride when he spotted two South Korean men perched dangerously on the tall barriers lining the Mapo Bridge in Seoul.

Torres, who works for the Defense Intelligence Agency on Yongsan Garrison, couldn’t remember the local emergency number (119) and doesn’t speak much Korean but felt he had to do something to keep them from jumping.

“I was just telling them, ‘This is not a good idea. You don’t want to do this. It’s a beautiful day outside,’” he said, describing the May 21 incident. “I just rambled, but at least I got their attention for a little bit.”

The city installed 8.5-foot-high, curved barriers along the bridge in 2016 to keep people from trying to jump as it had become a popular spot for suicide attempts. But the men had managed to climb on top.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Another effect of the current poor economic conditions in South Korea:

Korea’s suicide rate and number of people committing suicide, which had fallen since 2013, rose by nearly 10 percent last year amid a prolonged business downturn, data showed Tuesday.

According to Statistics Korea, the suicide rate has risen by 9.5 percent, amid tougher economic circumstances.

The suicide rate is calculated as the number of deaths by suicide per 100,000 people.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

A suicide note was found at the scene. Lee’s body has been transferred to a hospital morgue.

Lee, 60, was being probed by the prosecution over his alleged involvement in the illegal surveilling of bereaved families of victims from a 2014 deadly ferry sinking that took more than 300 lives.

Prosecutors accused him of ordering his officers to collect information about any possible misconduct by the families to adversely affect the public’s sympathetic sentiment toward them.

It seems pretty creepy for someone to wear the jacket of someone that was just killed and then continue to wear it even while being investigated and arrested:

The police said on Saturday that one of four middle-school students arrested in the death of a classmate Friday had worn the victim’s jacket at the time of the arrest and throughout the police investigation.

Four teenagers were booked on charges of causing death from bodily injuries after the other boy fell from the roof of a 15-story apartment building on Tuesday afternoon.

The Incheon Yeonsu Police Station confirmed that the jacket one of the suspects wore to court on Friday belonged to the victim. “The boy was wearing the jacket when we arrested him, and he has not been able to change as he has been under detention since then,” the police said.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link.

There have been many ROK soldiers that have committed suicide serving on the DMZ, all evidence seems to point to this being the case once again:

In light of rumors about the death of a South Korean solider in a heavily fortified cross-border region last week, the military suggested that the death was an apparent suicide unrelated to the North Korean military.

In light of rumors about the death of a South Korean solider in the heavily fortified inter-Korean border region last week, the military has suggested the death was an apparent suicide unrelated to the North Korean military.

According to the Army, a 21-year-old private first class was found dead Friday at a guard post in the eastern section of the Demilitarized Zone. The soldier’s body was found hours after he was sent for night duty to monitor thermal observation devices installed along the DMZ.

On Sunday, the Army said security cameras showed the soldier had walked alone into a restroom after receiving live ammunition at the gate to the guard post. The soldier’s smartphone also showed records of searches for the term “suicide,” the Army added.

“Only one rifle and an empty shell were found inside the restroom,” the Army said in a text message to reporters, suggesting there was no evidence of forced entry or an attack by outsiders.  [Korea Herald via a reader tip]

You can read more at the link.

Here is an extremely horrible story out of Incheon:

A 43-year-old housewife and her three children – 2, 4 and 6 years old – were found dead in their car at an outdoor parking lot in Incheon on Saturday. Articles commonly used to commit suicide, and a short memo, presumably a suicide note, were also found inside the car.

Upon receiving a report from the mother of the housewife, who had gotten a text message from her daughter hinting that she would end her own life, police tracked down the housewife’s car and dispatched police officers to the location.

The housewife was not under any financial pressure, according to authorities after a police investigation. She also had no medical record of treatment for depression or other mental illnesses.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain who has had his various food and travel shows come to South Korea multiple times was found dead of suicide in France:

“It is with extraordinary sadness we can confirm the death of our friend and colleague Anthony Bourdain,” CNN said in a statement Friday morning. “His love of great adventure, new friends, fine food and drink and the remarkable stories of the world made him a unique storyteller. His talents never ceased to amaze us, and we will miss him very much. Our thoughts and prayers are with his daughter and family at this incredibly difficult time.”

President Trump also said he was shocked to hear of Bourdain’s death.

“That was very shocking when I woke up this morning,” Trump told reporters at the White House before heading to the G7 Summit. “I enjoyed his show. He was quite a character, I will say. But, so, I just want to extend my condolences and also to the family of Kate Spade.” Spade, the famed handbag designer, committed suicide earlier this week.  [Yahoo News]

You can read more at the link, but Bourdain really enjoyed Korean food.  Here is what he had to say about Korean chefs:

I have, for some time, believed that the chefs doing the most interesting work in America — chefs who are in fact redefining what “American food” means — are Korean.

When I go out for dinner with non-Korean chef friends, all they want these days is Korean food. They get excited by the deep, tangy, spicy funk of kimchi; thrilled by the little plates of pickles and snacks that accompany the main courses; intrigued by what is, to them, often a whole new spectrum of flavors.

Date night with my wife? Korean barbecue. And God help me, among a very small circle of friends — all of them sworn to secrecy, and on all of whom I possess horrifying and incriminating photographic evidence that ensures their eternal silence — I have, after much soju, actually gone to Korean karaoke.  [CNN]

One of my favorite episodes of Bourdain’s original show No Reservations was when he traveled to South Korea with a Korean-American who worked in his office.  They had a lot of fun in that episode.  You can view the episode at this link.

Finally condolences to Bourdain’s family and friends.