Missing Seoul mayor found dead in the hills

South Korean police say the body of the missing mayor of the capital, Seoul, has been found.

They say Park Won-soon’s body was located in hills in northern Seoul early on Friday, more than seven hours after they launched a massive search for him on Thursday.

Park’s daughter had called police on Thursday afternoon to report him missing, saying he had given her a “will-like” message before leaving home.

A police officer said Park’s body was found near a traditional restaurant and banquet hall in the hills.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

News reports say one of Park’s secretaries had lodged a complaint with police on Wednesday night over alleged sexual harassment.

Kim Ji-hyeong, a Seoul Metropolitan Government official, said Park did not go to work yesterday for unspecified reasons and had canceled all of his schedule, including a meeting with a presidential official at his Seoul City Hall office.

Park, 64, a longtime civic activist and human rights lawyer, was elected Seoul mayor in 2011.

He became the city’s first mayor to be voted into a third term in June last year.

A member of President Moon Jae-in’s liberal Democratic Party, he has been considered a potential presidential candidate in the 2022 elections.