Park Won-soon suicide: Calls for independent investigation as Seoul mayor’s allies try to preserve his liberal legacy

Women’s rights advocates say city authorities cannot conduct an impartial investigation given Park held the office of mayor for nearly a decade. Donald Kirk reports

A mourner walks by a memorial altar for Park in Seoul (AP)

South Korean women’s groups are calling for an independent investigation into the private life of the reform-minded Seoul mayor Park Won-soon, the victim of a mysterious suicide after his former secretary accused him of persistently trying to lure her into the private bedroom off his city hall office.

The charges filed by the secretary were formally dropped after his death on 9 July and non-governmental groups accuse South Korea’s left-wing administration of covering up the real facts of his death and his role as a one-time liberal contender in the country’s next presidential election in 2022.

Lee Mi-kyoung, director of the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Centre, called this week for South Korea’s national human rights commission to take over the investigation into charges that the 64-year-old Park bullied not only his former secretary but also other women on his staff at Seoul’s city hall.