Roh Moo hyun

Former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, embroiled in a broadening corruption scandal, died Saturday after jumping from a mountain cliff behind his rural southern home. He left behind a suicide note, his lawyer said. Roh, 62, had been hiking in the village of Bongha Saturday morning when he threw himself off the mountainside, lawyer Moon Jae-in told reporters.

He was rushed to Busan National University Hospital in the nearby port city of Busan around 8:15 a.m. (2315 GMT) and died around 9:30 a.m. (0030 GMT) from head injuries, hospital officials said. The former president left a "brief" suicide note for his family, Moon told reporters at a news conference at the hospital.

MBC television reported that Roh said in the note that things have been "difficult" and he felt he had made "too many people suffer." The note also said Roh wanted his body cremated, according to the report. It did not say how it obtained the note. Investigators have not seen the suicide note, a Busan police official said. He did not give his name, citing department policy. President Lee Myung-bak said Saturday that the news was "truly hard to believe" and called Roh's death "sad and tragic," presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said.