(4th LD) Roh commits suicide after leaving note, family lawyer says

(ATTN: UPDATES with contents of suicide note in paras 2-4; background in last six
paras; CHANGES headline)
SEOUL, May 23 (Yonhap) -- Former President Roh Moo-hyun died after falling from a
mountainside behind his residence early Saturday morning and left behind a brief
suicide note, his lawyer said.
In the note written on his personal computer, Roh said he was going through "hard
times," according to his aides, apparently referring to the bribery probe
surrounding him and his family.
"It has been too hard. I have made it difficult for so many people. I cannot even
read books," Roh's note said, according to the aides.
"Don't blame me. Life and death are the same. Please cremate me and erect a small
stone monument for me in my village."
The Pusan National University Hospital, where the former president was rushed
after his fall, announced that Roh arrived at its emergency room at 8:13 a.m. and
died at 9:30 a.m. from external head injuries.
Roh, who was 62, had been living in Bongha Village, near Busan, some 450
kilometers south of Seoul.
"Roh left his home at 5:45 a.m. to go hiking. He appears to have jumped from a
mountain rock at 6:40 a.m. He was accompanied by a bodyguard at that time," said
Moon Jae-in, who had served as presidential chief of staff during the Roh
presidency.
"He left behind a brief suicide note," Moon told reporters at a hospital news
conference.
Roh, who served as South Korea's president from 2003 to 2008, has been under
investigation over allegations that he and his family received at least US$6
million in bribes from a corrupt businessman while in office.
Roh and his wife, Kwon Yang-sook, were summoned by prosecutors last month to face
grueling questioning over the bribery allegations. Prosecutors had said they
would soon decide whether to seek an arrest warrant for the former president.
Paek Seung-wan, chief of Pusan National University Hospital, said in the same
news conference that Roh died due to a head injury.
"At the time of his arrival at the hospital at 8:23 a.m., he was unconscious and
couldn't breathe on his own. A laceration measuring 11 centimeters was found on
the front part of his head. Doctors attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation but
suspended it at 8:30 a.m. as he failed to recover," said Paek.
Kwon is said to have fainted after her husband's death was confirmed at the
hospital.
Roh had been put under mounting psychological pressures, as prosecutors narrowed
their investigation on him and his family. His elder brother and many of his
political confidants were recently placed under arrest on separate corruption
charges.
Roh's only elder brother, Gun-pyeong, was sentenced to a four-year jail term on
May 14 for receiving billions of won in return for peddling influence in the
buyout of an ailing brokerage firm by a state-run company in 2006.
His brother's conviction may have dealt a blow to the embattled former president,
who was facing a second summons by prosecutors for questioning over whether he
received bribes from Park Yeon-cha, chairman of shoemaker Taekwang Industry,
during his presidency.
Kwon and one of her in-laws were found to have accepted at least $6 million from
the Taekwang chairman between 2006 and 2008, though prosecutors suspected Roh was
the final recipient of those bribes.
Roh was summoned on April 30 and underwent 10 hours of intensive questioning.
ycm@yna.co.kr
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