Mystery surrounds Korean’s death plunge

PHUKET CITY (Nation, Gazette): South Korean tour guide Kim Kyoung Hoon, 39, fell to his death from the rooftop of The Metropole hotel in downtown Phuket City early this morning.

Capt Krerkrit Ritnuang, of Phuket City Police Station, said that a hotel security officer found the body of Mr Kim, who was not a guest at the hotel, lying in the hotel car park at 6:30 am.

Mr Kim’s briefcase was found on the rooftop, along with a paint can near a two-meter-high retaining wall, Capt Krerkrit said.

The briefcase contained court documents stating that Mr Kim was a witness in a lawsuit between Koreans relating to a financial dispute involving checks, he added.

A spokesperson for the hotel this afternoon told the Gazette that hotel security cameras had recorded Mr Kim on the premises before his fall.

A hotel security guard also saw him park his car and climb fire exit stairs towards the roof, the spokesperson added.

After an “urgent meeting” with staff from the Korean embassy late this afternoon, Capt Krerkrit told the Gazette that the embassy believes Mr Kim did not take his own life.