Surveillance victim dies in apparent suicide

By Yi Whan-woo

A former liberal party member was found dead in an apparent suicide after suffering from depression following illegal surveillance on him carried out by military intelligence officers in 2009, the police said Monday.

Seoul police said Eom Yun-seop, 45, a 2008 candidate of the then-Democratic Labor Party (DLP), leapt to his death from his apartment in Dongjak-gu. Investigators said a neighbor discovered the body and reported it to police on Aug. 7.

They found a suicide note that read, “I’d like to atone for all my wrongdoings by killing myself.”

Investigators said they are trying to find the reason why he took his own life. They added that Eom has been suffering from depression since it was established the Defense Security Command conducted illegal surveillance on him and other political party members during a protest in 2009.

Eom was a member of the DLP, the predecessor of the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party (UPP), and was staging a protest against Ssangyong Motor’s layoff of workers when a military official was caught videotaping him and other protesters.

According to his bereaved family, Eom first suffered from mild depression in college when he first joined the democratic movement against the then-military government.

Police and military officials quizzed him several times back then and he allegedly had difficulty overcoming depression, a family member said.

Eom ran as a DLP candidate in the 2008 National Assembly elections but did not win. He filed a suit against the government for allegedly ordering the Defense Security Command to conduct illegal surveillance on civilians, including him. Both district and high courts ruled in his favor and the Supreme Court is reviewing the case.