YONHAP NEWS

(LEAD) Former vice minister accused of graft found dead

   SEOUL, Oct. 10 (Yonhap) -- A former vice minister accused of bribery was found dead in his home on Friday, police said, the latest in a string of high-profile suicides.

   Kim Yung-chul, 61, who resigned from his post in Prime Minister Han Seung-soo's office last week, was found dead in a bathroom of his Seoul home by his daughter at around 8 a.m., police said.

   Police found a suicide note to his wife that read, "I love you. I am sorry. It's too hard, I am leaving first."
Allegations recently emerged in the media that Kim pocketed tens of millions of won from an environmentally-friendly energy developer, Kenertec Co., while serving as the head of a state-run energy firm from 2002 to 2005.

   Prosecutors said the investigation was still at an initial stage and that there had been no direct questioning.

   "Investigators were looking into allegations against Mr. Kim, but they had no details yet," a prosecutor at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said on condition of anonymity. "We are surprised and sad."
Some media reports referred to the allegations as the first corruption case involving the Lee Myung-bak government. Kim, known by colleagues as a man of integrity and as having a sensitive nature, had claimed innocence.

   Suicide has reached unprecedented levels in Korea, with a recent string of celebrity deaths stoking fears of a contagion sweeping the country. Four entertainers have taken their own lives in a month's time, the most notable being top actress Choi Jin-sil, 40, who was said to have suffered depression and extreme duress caused by malicious Internet rumors.

   In the latest case, a securities company employee in his early 30s was found dead in a motel room in Seoul earlier in the day. Investigators believe a sharp decline in the value of his stocks drove him to suicide.

   hkim@yna.co.kr
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