The mayor of South Korea's second largest city was found dead in a jail cell on Wednesday where he was awaiting the outcome of an investigation into charges he took $85,000 in bribes, an official at city hall said.
Pusan Mayor Ahn Sang-yong was believed to have hanged himself with his undershirt, officials said. He was arrested last October on suspicion he took the cash from a local transport firm.
Ahn's case, in which several members of parliament are also being questioned, is separate from a cascading election funding scandal that has gripped South Korea for four months and dominated the run up to a National Assembly election on April 15.
The funding scandal stems from admissions that the campaigns of President Roh Moo-hyun and his conservative opponent both raised tens of millions of dollars in secret corporate political donations in the December 2002 presidential election.
In the latest twist in the case, a distant relative of Roh was arrested late on Wednesday over suspicious investment funds.