Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
Savings bank executive kills himself during investigation
An executive of Tomato 2 Savings Bank killed himself after receiving a second summons for an investigation into corruption at the lender.
It is the second suicide of a figure involved in the banking scandal, after Jeil 2 Mutual Savings Bank President Jeong Gu-haeng took his own life in September.
The 49-year-old executive director, surnamed Cha, was found hanging at an abandoned house in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, at around 9:20 a.m. Thursday, according to a joint investigation team of the corruption scandal.
His wife found the body and reported the death to the police. She told the team that Cha sent her a text message implying he may kill himself.
Before moving to Tomato 2, Cha was in charge of credit loans at Tomato Savings Bank which was suspended from operations due to poor capital adequacy ratio.
He was summoned in October as a witness in the bank’s alleged illegal lending. The joint team notified him last week he should present himself for questioning once more but he failed to establish contact with it, according to the team members.