Former vice minister accused of graft found dead

(ATTN: UPDATES story with Kim's official name spelling, prosecutor's quote, another
suicide)
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.