“Busan Mayor Determined to Have Committed Suicide on December 17”

After examining the last wills and testaments of Busan’s past mayor, Ahn Sang-young, the fact-finding committee of the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution announced on February 5 that Mayor Ahn seemed to have prepared to commit suicide for a long time.

The prosecution said, “We delivered three notebooks written in diary style containing about 65 pages each, and six written wills to the bereaved family.” Each written will has a date on it. The first will was written on December 17 and the latest one on January 16. Considering the time period, Ahn is considered not to have written his own will either on the day of his suicide or right before it.

The prosecution concluded that Ahn, who was depressed after hearing no response from the court regarding his bail request that he initiated because of his declining health, decided to commit suicide when the owner of a transformation firm, which had given a bribe to Ahn, was arrested by the prosecution on December 16.

The prosecution added that they are doing a comprehensive inquiry into the management of the Busan Detention Center, its working conditions, and the situational facts of the day Ahn hung himself, but so far they have not found any noticeable problems.

However, the fact-finding committee of the Human Rights Committee of the Grand National Party (GNP) announced in its research report that, “Mayor Ahn appealed his sufferings to the correctional authorities several times, but the personnel in the center and the prosecution had not taken any proper measures. We see that this may have drove Ahn to choose the extreme option of committing suicide.”

This fact-finding committee of GNP raised doubts saying, “By examining his will, the reception record, and having an on-the-spot survey we have found that there had been much human right’s infringement during the investigation.”

On February 5, nearly 100 high officials and political celebrities including Lee Hoi-chang, the ex-head of GNP, Hong Sa-deok, GNP floor leader, Huh Sung-kwan, minister of government administration and home affairs, and Moon Jae-in, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs paid their condolences to Ahn in Yeongrak Park in Busan.

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