[COurtesy of Namking Jinwoong = timeid@]
The vice chairman of South Korea's fifth-largest conglomerate Lotte Group hanged himself on a tree Friday in an apparent suicide before he was to turn up for questioning by prosecutors over alleged business irregularities.
The body of Lee In-won, 69, was discovered by a passer-by on a trail in Yangpyeong, 32 kilometers (20 miles) east of Seoul, at around 7:10 am (2210 GMT). A suicide note was found in his car near the site.
Lee, who lived in Seoul, did not return home after going out the previous night. He was found lying on the grounds with his necktie and scarf around the neck.
A close aide of Lotte chairman Shin Dong-bin, Lee was summoned for questioning by prosecutors Friday as part of an extensive probe into alleged tax evasion, embezzlement and other irregularities by the group's ruling family and executives.
Shin Young-ja, the 74-year-old daughter of group founder Shin Kyuk-ho, 94, was arrested on July 7 on charges of taking kickbacks from a cosmetics firm in return for favorable placement in Lotte's duty-free shops. Group executives have been questioned or arrested for corruption and business irregularities.
Prosecutors have also probed allegations that the founder has evaded taxes in transferring shares and assets to his common-law wife Seo Mi-kyung and their daughter Shin Yoo-mi.
The investigation followed a protracted fraternal feud involving the founder's younger son, Shin Dong-bin, who now controls the group, and his elder brother, Shin Dong-joo.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
