By Kim Rahn, Park Si-soo
Staff Reporters
Former President Roh Moo-hyun, who was embroiled in a widening corruption scandal, jumped to his death Saturday morning after leaving behind a brief suicide note, his lawyer said. He was 62.
Roh threw himself off a 30-meter cliff on a mountain behind his home in Bongha Village, Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, at around 6:40 a.m. while hiking with a security guard.
``Former President Roh left his house at 5:45 a.m. and appears to have jumped off a cliff at around 6:40 a.m. while hiking on Mt. Bongha,'' Moon Jae-in, Roh's lawyer and former secretary, said in a nationally televised statement.
A police officer quoted the security guard as saying that Roh's actions were ``too abrupt'' for him to stop them.
Right before jumping, Roh asked the accompanying guard for a cigarette, police said.
The suicide note Roh left reads, ``Many people have been suffering too much because of me. The sufferings that will come are also too enormous. I cannot do anything due to bad heath. I cannot read nor write. Life and death are just one piece of nature, aren't they?''
Roh also said, ``Don't be sorry. Don't blame anyone. It's all destiny. Please cremate my body and leave just a small tombstone near my home.''
His aides found the note saved in a file in his computer.