Ex-S Korea leader, Roh Moo-hyun, ‘kills himself’.
A spokesman said Mr Roh, 62, appeared to have jumped into a ravine while mountain climbing near his home and had left a brief suicide note.
He was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital in the southern city of Busan.
Last month, Mr Roh apologised over allegations he had taken $6m in bribes while in office between 2003 and 2008.
He never admitted any personal wrongdoing, but said he was sorry for disappointing the Korean people.
‘Deeply sad event’
In a statement read live on national radio and television, Mr Roh’s former chief of staff, Moon Jae-in, said the former president had left a suicide note.
“Former President Roh left his house at 0545 (2045 GMT on Friday) and while hiking on the Bonghwa Mountain, appears to have jumped off a rock at around 0640,” he said.
“He left a short suicide note addressed to his family members.”
In the message, Mr Roh described his life as “difficult” and apologised for making “too many people suffer”, according to a report on YTN television.
Police earlier said the former president had fallen down a mountain near his hometown of Gimhae and had been transported to Busan’s hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 0830 local time (2330 GMT).
Hospital officials later said he had died from massive head injuries.
The apparent suicide - believed to be the first by a modern South Korean leader - has shocked the nation.
“This is a truly unbelievable, lamentable and deeply sad event,” President Lee Myung-bak, Mr Roh’s successor, said in a statement.
Bribery allegations
A human rights lawyer, Mr Roh took office in 2003 vowing to fight corruption, but correspondents say his term was a rollercoaster ride, with his party hit by scandal and infighting.
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He was suspended early in 2004, after parliament voted to impeach him over a breach of election rules, but the Constitutional Court later overturned the move and he was reinstated.
Last month, Mr Roh was questioned over allegations that he had taken millions of dollars in bribes from a wealthy businessman.
The former president later apologised for the scandal.
“I feel ashamed before my fellow citizens. I am sorry for disappointing you,” he said in a televised statement.
In a statement on his website in April, Mr Roh admitted his wife received a substantial sum of money from the businessman. He said it was not a bribe, but a payment to help her settle a debt.
The former president of South Korea, Roh Moo-hyun, who had been under investigation for alleged corruption, has apparently committed suicide. What is the real reason for his committed suicide? More result in http://www.9ico.com