Questioned Official Found Dead

By Park Si-soo

Staff Reporter

A civil servant, who was questioned over bribery suspicions by the state audit office, was found dead in an apparent suicide, police said Tuesday.

Police said the official, identified only as Yoon, was found hanging from the ceiling in an apartment in North Jeolla Province. Yoon's wife was the first to find the body and reported it to the police at 10:15 p.m., Monday.

"He left home early in the morning and it was getting late but he still hadn't returned. So I began to search for him and found him on the way to the rooftop," Yonhap News Agency quoted Yoon's wife as saying.

Police confirmed that no signs of foul play had been found at the crime scene.

Yoon had been investigated by the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) over the allegation that he had received 10 million won ($8,900) in bribes from companies in exchange for awarding them a state-funded construction project in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, which started last year. Yoon was in charge of the project.

The BAI recently summoned him and questioned him based on fact that suspicious funds were funneled into his private bank accounts. The official reportedly denied the allegation.

Police are still investigating the exact cause of his death. Yoon reportedly left a written will to his family, but it has yet to be made public.