Hours after he was reported missing, the mayor of Seoul, South Korea, has been found dead according to authorities. On the evening of July 9, his daughter reported Park Won-Soon missing.
The authorities immediately launched a search and operation mission in order to find him. More than 600 firefighters and police officers were deployed, and three rescue dogs were also used, as reported by CNN.
Park's was eventually found dead in the mountains of the city, just seven hours into the search and rescue operation. The death of the mayor was confirmed by Seoul police on July 10, according to BBC.
Was it suicide?
Seoul's police authorities went around Waryong Park to look for the mayor. It was where he was recorded on CCTV footage in the morning of July 9. The mayor's last cell phone signal was detected in Seongbuk-gu, a neighborhood in Seoul, according to Korean Herald.
The neighborhood is close to Jongno-gu, which is his official residence. Park Won-Soon was a 64-year-old civic activist who has been the mayor of Seoul since 2011. He was being eyed as a presidential candidate for 2022.
Park won despite not having any political experience nor having any political ties. His landslide victory in 2011 showed that the Koreans were already tired of the usual politics on the country, which was why he was appointed to one of the most powerful position in South Korea's capital.
The mayor was a former human rights lawyer and he ran independently. He forged an alliance with opposition parties, pushed city welfare projects and he became a symbol of reform. He was reelected as mayor in 2014 and in 2018.
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