Ex-husband of late actress Choi Jin-sil found dead in apparent suicide

The former husband of late actress Choi Jin-sil was found dead at his girlfriend's home in Seoul Sunday in an apparent suicide, police said.

The body of Cho Sung-min, 39, a former top baseball player who was married to Choi from 2000 to 2004, was found by his girlfriend in the bathroom of her apartment in the southern Seoul neighborhood of Dogok-dong, police said.

Cho was discovered hanged with a belt at around 5:26 a.m.

Police said Cho and his unnamed girlfriend drank alcohol together at her apartment on Saturday night, after which the girlfriend left because she had other plans. When she returned to the apartment, she discovered the body and called the police.

Cho hinted at suicide in a message he sent to his girlfriend over the mobile messenger service Kakao Talk, according to a police official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"He left the words, 'Thanks for everything. Be strong even without me,'" the official said, adding that an investigation is under way into what appeared to be a suicide.

No suicide note has been found, police said.

Cho pitched for Japan's Yomiuri Giants from 1996 to 2002 and played for South Korea's Hanwha Eagles in 2005-2007. He later worked as a TV commentator and joined the pro South Korean baseball club Doosan Bears as a coach in 2011 but did not renew his contract last November.

The late actress Choi killed herself in 2008 after struggling with depression for years.

The couple is survived by one daughter and one son.