A provincial education chief who was probed last month by police for bribery charges was taken to a hospital after an apparent suicide attempt on Tuesday, police said.

Kim Jong-seong, chief of the South Chungcheong Office of Education, was rushed to a nearby hospital in Daejeon, 164 kilometers south of Seoul, police said, adding that he is being treated for non-life threatening injuries.

The 63-year-old official has been under intense police investigation for allegedly ordering government officials to take bribes from people seeking to become state education advisors, in exchange for giving them questions for the qualification test.

"(Kim) was lying on the floor in a living room after drinking a poison," Kim's wife was quoted by police as saying.

Kim, who was summoned by police twice for questioning last month, has flatly denied allegations against him. (Yonhap News)