SEOUL: Longtime Seoul City Mayor Park Won-soon was found dead, police said on Friday, after his daughter reported him missing saying he had left a message "like a will". The mayor`s body was found at Mt Bugak in northern Seoul around midnight, near where his phone signal had last been detected, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said.


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The agency did not give a cause of death. His daughter reported him missing at 5:17 p.m. (0817 GMT) and said his phone was off and that he had left a message "like a will", the Yonhap news agency reported. Hundreds of police took part in a search for the mayor. Yonhap said a former secretary of Park filed a complaint on Wednesday over alleged incidents of sexual harassment.


The city`s police did not respond to Reuters` calls seeking comment, but said in a statement that it would investigate the cause of his death. As mayor of the city of nearly 10 million people, Park was one of South Korea`s most influential politicians and played a high-profile role in its response to the coronavirus pandemic. He was seen as a potential presidential hopeful for the liberals in the 2022 presidential elections.


The discovery of his body followed a hours-long night search in one of the most mountainous and scenic parts of Seoul just a few minutes from the heart of the metropolitan capital, involving hundreds of police using drones and dogs. Park left the mayor`s official residence at around 10:40 a.m. (0140 GMT) on Thursday, wearing a black hat and a backpack, having cancelled policy meetings scheduled for the day, according to multiple local reports.


CAMPAIGNER FOR WOMEN`S CAUSES


Formerly a prominent human rights activist and lawyer, Park has been the mayor of Seoul since 2011, pursuing a slew of policies promoting gender equality. As a lawyer in the 1990s, he won one of South Korea`s earliest cases on sexual harassment, and strongly advocated for the cause of "comfort women," those who were forced to work in Japan`s wartime military brothels before and during World War Two, when Japan occupied Korea.


Park also praised women for their courage after a series of women accused powerful politicians and policymakers of sexual wrongdoings amid the #MeToo movement in 2018. "The resolve of individual heroines is not enough. I think we need social solidarity," he said, calling for support for the movement. He also played a vocal role in the massive candlelight demonstrations that helped lead to the ousting of former President Park Geun-hye in 2017.