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| A police officer places yellow tape in front of the office of renowned baseball commentator Ha Il-sung, inset, in Seoul, Wednesday night, after Ha was found dead there. The apparent suicide occurred a few months after he was indicted on fraud charges. / Yonhap |
By Baek Byung-yeul
Ha il-sung, a popular baseball commentator and former secretary general of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), was found dead in an apparent suicide at his office in Seoul, police said Thursday.
The Seoul Songpa Police Station said Ha was found hanged at 7:56 a.m. in his office in Songpa, southeastern Seoul, by an employee.
Police said a note was found and it appears to be a suicide as there wasn't any evidence of foul play at the scene. They said an unsent text message was found on his cell phone to his wife which said, "I am sorry and I love you." Ha was 67.
His death came after the Busan District Prosecutors' Office indicted him in July on charges of receiving 50 million won ($45,700) in kickbacks from an acquaintance in April 2014.
Ha allegedly promised to lobby for a baseball coach to help his acquaintance's son join the KBO team, but Ha's acquaintance accused him of fraud when the promise was not kept. Denying the accusation, Ha claimed innocence saying the money was just a loan.
He had also faced a lawsuit for not paying back 30 million won to an acquaintance in November 2015.
Weeks before fresh charges emerged in July, Ha was also investigated for aiding and abetting impaired driving after his wife got into a car accident while under the influence. Ha was in the passenger's seat when the accident occurred.
Though his later years were smeared with fraud allegations, he had been an iconic baseball commentator best known for his one-liner, "nothing's certain in baseball."
The former high school teacher began broadcasting baseball games in 1979 and quickly established himself as one of the country's top TV personalities for his humorous comments and unique tone.
Ha also worked as a prominent baseball administrator. While serving as the KBO secretary general from 2006 to 2009, Korea clinched the country's first-ever Olympic baseball gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and finished runner-up at the 2009 World Baseball Classic, the so-called "baseball World Cup."
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