Kim Ha-soo, former mayor of Cheongdo County in North Gyeongsang Province, who had been under police investigation over personnel-related misconduct allegations, was found dead.
According to police and other sources on the 13th, a firefighter conducting a search discovered Kim's body at around 7 a.m. that day on a wooded hill in Cheongdo-eup, Cheongdo County.
Kim had been under investigation over personnel-related misconduct allegations during his term. Recently, a close aide suspected of being involved in the misconduct took his own life, while another was arrested.
Kim was also indicted and referred to prosecutors in January over charges of entering the home of a nursing home director without permission (joint trespassing), together with one county office employee.
Kim ran for re-election in the June local elections after receiving the People Power Party's nomination, but lost to independent candidate Park Kwon-hyun.
