Missing Seoul mayor found dead

The missing mayor of Seoul, who had reportedly been accused of sexual harassment, has been found dead more than half-a-day after leaving a message for his daughter, reports said. Police said rescue dogs found Park Won-soon’s body near a restaurant in wooded hills in northern Seoul, more than seven hours after they launched a search for him.

Park left the mayor’s official residence around 10.40am on Thursday wearing a black hat and a backpack, having cancelled policy meetings scheduled for the day, according to multiple local reports.

Park’s daughter reported him missing at 5.17pm and said his phone was off but that he had left a message “like a will”, the Yonhap news agency reported.

The discovery of his body followed a night search in one of the most mountainous and scenic parts of Seoul, just a few minutes from the heart of the metropolitan capital, involving hundreds of police using drones and dogs.

As mayor of the city of nearly 10 million people, Park was one of South Korea’s most influential politicians and played a high-profile role in its response to the coronavirus pandemic. He was seen as a potential presidential hopeful in the 2022 presidential elections.

Formerly a prominent human rights activist and lawyer, Park had been the mayor of Seoul since 2011, pursuing a slew of policies promoting gender equality.

As a lawyer in the 1990s, he won one of South Korea’s earliest cases on sexual harassment, and strongly advocated for the cause of “comfort women” who were forced to work in Japan’s military brothels before and during the second world war.

Park also praised women for their courage after a series of powerful politicians and policymakers were accused of sexual wrongdoings amid the #MeToo movement in 2018. He also played a vocal role in the massive candlelight demonstrations that helped lead to the ousting of Park Geun-hye as president in 2017.