Buyeo-gun Council Member's Drastic Choice... Wife Accused of '7.2 Billion Won Gold Investment Fraud' Disappears

Wife Running Jewelry Store Commits Fraud Against Acquaintances
"Deeply Responsible"...Voluntarily Submits Resignation Letter
Found Dead at Home on the Afternoon of the 22nd

Park Sang-woo, a member of the Chungnam Buyeo County Council (Democratic Party of Korea) who resigned from his position after his wife's gold investment fraud case became public, was found dead at his home on the 22nd.

According to the police, at around 7:24 p.m. that day, a family report requesting the police to "open the door of Councilman Park's house" was received. Park's family had been unable to contact him since the previous day and went to his house, but the door was locked. They requested a check inside the house and filed a missing person report.

With the help of the police, the family entered the house. When found, Park was collapsed inside the house in a state of cardiac arrest. He was immediately transported to Konyang University Buyeo Hospital but ultimately passed away.

The police are investigating the exact circumstances of his death, but since there is no suspicion of homicide, it is believed to be a case of suicide. No suicide note has been found yet.

On the same day, Park submitted his resignation to the county council, taking responsibility for his wife's gold investment fraud case. On the 18th, he said, "I deeply regret this. It is difficult to continue my legislative activities, and it is also inappropriate to maintain my position as a county council member, so I am stepping down. I was flustered and overwhelmed, so my apology was delayed, and I sincerely apologize again to the victims."

Wife Induced Gold Investment with Promise to Share Profits... Embezzled 7.2 Billion Won and Disappeared

Earlier, it was reported on the 14th that a complaint had been filed against Park's wife, Ms. A. She had operated a gold and silver shop in Buyeo for decades and induced investments from acquaintances by saying, "If you invest in gold bars, I will share the profits," but suddenly cut off contact and disappeared.

The complaint related to Ms. A's gold investment fraud filed with the police includes a total of 38 cases, with reported damages amounting to 7.2 billion won. Most of the victims are Buyeo residents in their 40s to 60s who had known Ms. A for decades. It is understood that some of the victims are also Ms. A's relatives.

Ms. A reportedly told her acquaintances, "Don't talk about this anywhere else because of unnecessary jealousy," effectively silencing them. Because of this, the victims were unaware of each other's investments.

A victim in his 60s who invested about 600 million won told Yonhap News on the 21st, "Only after filing the complaint did the victims learn who else had been defrauded," adding, "It turns out that the same method was used to silence all the victims and take their money."

Some victims have even suspected that Park might have been involved in collusion. One victim who lost several hundred million won said, "People who know well how the couple usually got along find it hard to believe that Park was unaware of his wife's fraudulent activities."

However, the police stated, "So far, there is no clear evidence of collusion," and added, "Since the scale of the damage continues to grow, we will keep all possibilities open and conduct a thorough investigation."

※ If you or someone around you is experiencing difficult feelings such as depression or other hard-to-talk-about concerns, you can receive 24-hour professional counseling through the Suicide Prevention Hotline ☎1393, Mental Health Counseling ☎1577-0199, Lifeline ☎1588-9191, Youth Hotline ☎1388, the youth mobile counseling app 'Da Deureojul Gae,' KakaoTalk, and other services.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.