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Roh saddened by businessman's death

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun yesterday expressed sorrow at the apparent suicide of a business leader he had accused of bribing his brother, his press secretary said.

"I feel pain at my heart and saddened at the incident," Roh was quoted as saying by his chief press secretary, Lee Byung-wan.

Nam was under investigation by prosecutors over allegations he gave Roh's brother, Roh Kun-pyung, 30 million won (US$25,500) last August.

Nam disappeared after the president publicly accused him of bribing his brother at a press conference on Thursday that was telecast live across the country.

Nam Sang-guk, former president of Daewoo Construction Co, is feared to have committed suicide by throwing himself into the Han River that flows through Seoul.

At one point during the press conference, Roh directly referred to Nam by his family name.

"I wish such a case would not happen again in which people, like the Daewoo construction president, Mr. Nam, who graduated from the best schools and succeeded greatly, pays a visit to an insignificant person who lives in the countryside, bows to him and gives him money," Roh said.

Roh touched on other corruption scandals involving Roh's aides and political issues, including the opposition parties' impeachment move against him on grounds of corruption and incompetence.

Following the press conference, Nam reportedly called an aide and a lawyer, to whom he declared he would commit suicide.

"My name is on the air. How can I face the world without shame when I've been branded a criminal? I will disappear, taking all responsibility," the Joongang daily quoted Nam as telling the aide.

Nam then disappeared after he told his lawyer by phone that he would commit suicide.

Last August Daewoo Construction was under a debt-restructuring program led by the state-run Korea Asset Management Corp.

Nam had been told that the company was about to fire him and asked the president's brother to urge Daewoo to reverse the decision, prosecutors said.

However, the lobbying efforts apparently failed and after Nam was replaced at the company, Roh Kun-pyung returned the money. Prosecutors have charged the president's brother with taking the bribe.

Police officers yesterday found an abandoned car belonging to Nam's wife parked at the approach to Hannam Bridge over the Han River.
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