Travel agent found dead in apparent suicide amid economic downturn

SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Yonhap) -- The head of a travel agency was found dead Wednesday
in his Seoul office in an apparent suicide caused by slumping business due to a
national economic downturn, police said.
According to the Jongno Police Station, the 40-year-old man, identified only by
his surname Oh, left a suicide note, saying, "It's hard to run the office as
there are few people who want to go abroad. I'm so lonely."
A colleague found him hanging from a band tied to the ceiling at 8:50 a.m.,
police said.
"Given that his travel agency specialized on tours to Thailand, the decline in
the number of tourists there due to anti-government demonstrations in Bangkok
also seems to have affected him," they added.
Korean tourists heading overseas decreased by 13.5 percent to 930,000 in October
from some 1 million during the same period last year, mainly because of Korea's
hiked currency rate and worldwide financial turmoil.
Last month, an asset manager committed suicide after being overcome by financial
losses caused by the U.S.-triggered financial crisis.
brk@yna.co.kr
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