Police recover body of ex-rear admiral implicated in graft case

GOYANG, South Korea, Feb. 1 (Yonhap) -- Police said on Sunday they have found the body of a former Navy rear admiral who recently jumped off a bridge while under investigation in a defense industry graft case.

The Gyeonggi Goyang Police Station said they recovered the body of the former officer, a 61-year-old surnamed Ham, under a bridge over the Han River in a Seoul suburb. He plunged off the same bridge last Wednesday.

Ham, who also served as an executive at a defense firm, was scheduled to face questioning on the day he leaped to his death. Prosecutors said they considered him a witness, rather than a suspect.

The details of the case in which he was allegedly involved were not immediately clear. Ham was once in charge of the Navy's shipbuilding division.

In November, South Korea launched a task force made up of prosecutors, military officers and government officials to root out corruption in the defense industry.

The move came after an expensive homegrown salvage ship was proved defective at the peak of efforts to save those missing from a ferry disaster last year. The sinking claimed more than 300 lives.
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