[breaking news] Another footballer kills himself

[unreal.livejournal.com]

Crisis deepens in scandal involving match-fixing with death of Chung

K-League President Chung Mong-gyu, second from right, bows his head in apology yesterday at a press conference regarding the recent match-fixing scandal involving professional football players at K-League headquarters in central Seoul.

The K-League match-fixing scandal escalated yesterday as Seoul United FC football player Chung Jong-kwan, 30, hanged himself in a hotel room in Apgujeong-dong, southern Seoul, unable to bear the guilt of being involved in the match-fixing scam.

According to police, Chung, was found dead at about 1:40 p.m., leaving behind a suicide note that said, “I’m sorry. I feel ashamed to have engaged in match-fixing.”


Chung, who joined Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in 2004, left the club after allegations of being involved in military conscription corruption in 2008. He played for Seoul United FC in the 2011 Challengers League (K3) this year.

Upon news of Chung’s death, Seoul United FC said they had been unable to keep in contact with Chung since March after he notified the club that he did “not feel well and will receive rehabilitation.”

The incident shocked K-League fans as prosecutors already in the middle of investigating the recent suicide of another K-League player, Incheon United FC goalkeeper Yoon Ki-won, 23, worked to see if Yoon’s suicide was related to the match-fixing scandal.

Yoon was found dead in his car, which was parked at highway rest area, on May 6. A half-burnt briquette was on the passenger seat with an envelope containing 1 million won ($925). However, a suicide note wasn’t found.

Prosecutors are continuing to widen the probe into match-fixing.

The Changwon Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday it is looking into allegations involving Incheon United FC. Some Incheon United players are suspected of receiving bribes from gambling brokers beyond the two brokers who have already been arrested in return for deliberately losing matches.

Moreover, Gwangju FC goalkeeper Sung Kyung-mo, 31, who was arrested on charges of receiving 100 million won from gambling brokers to throw a football match, was a member of Incheon United FC from 2005 to December 2010 before joining Gwangju FC this January.

Prosecutors have also conducted a probe of Daejeon Citizen FC, arresting eight players, including its star player, Park Sang-wook, 25, who is suspected of receiving 120 million won from the brokers. He is suspected of splitting the money with his teammates.

But in contrast to their investigation of Daejeon FC, prosecutors have had difficulty processing the Gwangju FC investigation.

Meanwhile, high-ranking Daejeon Citizen FC officials above manager level resigned Sunday in response to growing criticism of the players’ conduct.

Prosecutors said yesterday that they are currently tracing Sung’s bank account activity and any personal connections he has with other team members and added that they acquired video clips of five Gwangju FC games to investigate whether other players are involved in the scam.

According to prosecutors, Sung has denied the allegations and said returned the bribe money to the gambling brokers. But prosecutors believe only a portion of the 100 million won that Sung received from the brokers was returned.

Prosecutors said they will summon more players for questioning as soon as the whereabouts of the 100 million won that Sung received is determined.

The match-fixing scandal was brought to light when prosecutors arrested two players from Gwangju FC and Daejeon Citizen FC for throwing matches after receiving bribes from two gambling brokers, who raked in illicit profits by wagering large bets on the matches the two players participated in.

The Korea Professional Football League held press conference yesterday and apologized for creating a stir.

“I swear on the honor of the Korea Professional Football League and will take the lead in eradicating any attempts of match-fixing,” said K-League President Chung Mong-gyu. “It will hurt me as though someone is cutting into my flesh, but scraping out anyone who hampers the fundamental spirit of football is inevitable.”

Source: joongangdaily
Mods disregard the other article. When I posted that one I had no idea how big this news was. But it seems to be all over korean news sites too

Comments

[volume1995.livejournal.com]

omg rip :(

[kanghodong.livejournal.com]

It's so sad that it gets to the point where they think suicide is the only solution.

[jaejunggim.livejournal.com]

"suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem"

[kanghodong.livejournal.com]

:(

[thenylonkid.livejournal.com]

Not necessarily true; the temporary problem part. Someone could have a terminal illness or is expected to suffer from pain for the rest of their life for some examples. I just don't like that saying because it makes the reasons for why someone would kill themselves seem insignificant. Certainly the person considering suicide does not see it as a temporary problem so it's not right for us to say that it is or was. I'm not trying to be a dick, I just had to say voice my thoughts.

[minyquai.livejournal.com]

yeah i hate this saying, too :/
what about someone who is growing up in a terrible household with let's say a junkie mother, an alcholic violent father, what could they do? that's not temporary.

[2cutelena.livejournal.com]

growing up in a terrible household with let's say a junkie mother, an alcoholic violent father, what could they do? that's not temporary.

They could seek help for their parent(s) by seeking help with state facilitated rehab (which is cheap and or free) or contact hospitals which unknown to the general public many times allows for free, really reduced, or insured in patient treatment in their psych wards. If push comes to shove they could call the police and get help through law enforcements. There is chid protective services that would take them out of the home and put them with relatives, foster care, group homes. somewhere other than the unhealthy environment/situation the are in.

[minyquai.livejournal.com]

Assuming the parents would actually accept the help, let the child go and not threaten it if it ever went to the police.
But regardless, let's say the kid does get away. (In this scenario the parents would never ever accept the help btw.) It will be terribly scarred for life and honestly, you can't tell a kid that's been abused its whole life to suddenly think the world is a bright place. I'm not saying there aren't people who survived this kind of treatment and are happy as clams today, but normally these kids will suffer their whole lives and I think it is a case of 'it's not temporary'.
I also believe that many children in these scenarios wouldn't even try to get away since it's their parents after all.

[jaejunggim.livejournal.com]

RIP

[rawfudge.livejournal.com]

RIP Chung Jongkwan.
There's too many people committing these days.
Suicide should just never happen :/

[mediumpurple.livejournal.com]

another one?

[shanny-w.livejournal.com]

this isn't shaping up to be a very happy day for news :( RIP

[jaejunggim.livejournal.com]

today is a black day in the k-world :'C

[allisnotlost.livejournal.com]

IKR. i dont if i can continue reading. so heartbreaking :(

[dreamerbri.livejournal.com]

mte :(

[feel-my-mind.livejournal.com]

They seem more concerned with the match fixing than the fact someone (or someones) are dead!

That is pretty disturbing to me.

RIP for both men

[lilykt7.livejournal.com]

i saw it differently. match fixing was titled as the reason why he committed suicide, so i see it as them trying to end the corruption so in the future people won't be pushed into these sort of situation. i'm sure there are other news articles that go further into the suicide and the mourners because apparently this news is all over korea right now and as a public figure he must have a group of devastated followers. but this article is focusing on the future and what they can do to prevent further corruption.

[feel-my-mind.livejournal.com]

I'm going to read it a bit different than. The way I'm seeing it is, they committed suicide out of fear about the punishment involved in match fixing. It would probably b a permanent dark spot on their resume and they would probably never be able to have even a normal life. They need to lay up on the punishment in order to prevent the death. While I don't think they should go US extremes (you can basically come back after anything besides killing someone), but if the punishment and social sigma is bad enough to drive someone to suicide that is disturbing. Crimes such as match fixing should be punishment, but nowhere near ruining someones life forever.

[ayamefan13.livejournal.com]

RIP Chung Jong-kwan. RIP...

[hitsujiga.livejournal.com]

rip :(

[lysblack.livejournal.com]

omg this is so freaking sad. RIP

[woohyun.livejournal.com]

omg, this is sad D: RIP

[lydzi.livejournal.com]

RIP

[icedevil0289.livejournal.com]

RIP :( My condolences to the family and friends

[chewmi.livejournal.com]

rest in peace :(

[pandaeyes501.livejournal.com]

I hate how so many people in Korea kill themselves.

[miszmba.livejournal.com]

RIP.

[audiograms.livejournal.com]

Korea, please help those who feel helpless!

[initialc.livejournal.com]

What saddens me the most is that there wasn't anyone around to support these men in this scandal. Suicide is sometimes a lonely and desperate thing to do. There was no one to own up to the scandal and these men felt lost and alone.

Hard to go from public figure to the lowest of the low.

RIP.

[If you need help, please check http://suicide.org. There are many links and resources for people around the world]

[devilstay.livejournal.com]

I find that some-days, I wake=up and the whole world seems to be having an 'bad' day.

Why do these things have to happen? Yet again, I would like to point out, that to kill yourself, you would have to be in a state of deep depression and desperation, not just the feeling of shame. I hope that this 'match-fixing' event is sorted. I also hope that Korea, would start to consider the amount of responsibility and social pressure its social structure, exudes on its men and women.

/I know suicide happens everywhere, but the amount of suicides that happen in Korea every year is just...it's too much.

[kiwilovekiwi.livejournal.com]

So sorry for the family.
This week is not starting out well.

[babunattack.livejournal.com]

RIP. :'(

[asth77.livejournal.com]

wtf is happening nowadays.

Rest in peace.

[freezing-flames.livejournal.com]

so sad... RIP :(

[czarny.livejournal.com]

=(

football

[inudela.livejournal.com]

I don't know much about him, but it's tragic nonetheless.

RIP, and condolences to his family, friends and followers.

[5h0rtyy.livejournal.com]

RIP ..

[tofucakes.livejournal.com]

sad to hear about thus. R.I.P.

and for match-fixing too. what a fucking disgrace.

[831panda831.livejournal.com]

RIP :'(

[dreamerbri.livejournal.com]

RIP

[ababobaby.livejournal.com]

depressed rn. rip.

[spicy-mcspice.livejournal.com]

:( RIP

[chibi-rei.livejournal.com]

This is all so sad. RIP.


Explains how Daejeon dropped so fast from the top spot (obviously that is *not* the most important issue, but I had wondered).

[iamtheliquorr.livejournal.com]

So much tragedy today :(

RIP

[firizsan.livejournal.com]

too much suicide these days! more entertainment counselor plz!

[sadistic-dance.livejournal.com]

1 million won ($925)
Wat