A police officer who committed suicide after having been suspected of leaking a sensitive presidential document hinted the presidential office had pressured his colleague to provide false testimony, according to a suicide note released Sunday.

   The police officer, identified only by his surname Choi, was found dead Saturday after apparently inhaling carbon monoxide gas from burning briquettes in his car.

   His death was a new twist in the prosecution's investigation into the document, which was drawn up by Park Gwan-cheon, a police lieutenant who had worked for the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae until early February, and was leaked to the media late last month.

   According to the document, Jeong Yun-hoe, who served as an adviser for President Park Geun-hye when she was a lawmaker, is alleged to have held regular meetings with several incumbent senior presidential officials to influence state affairs, including personnel matters. He has never held any official position in the current administration.

   Choi was accused of stealing some 100 different kinds of documents, including the controversial one from Park's private luggage, together with his colleague surnamed Han and handing the copies over to the media and other sources, according to prosecutors.

   Choi and Han have denied those allegations.

   Choi hinted that Cheong Wa Dae had pressured Han to admit to the charges brought against him, according to a lengthy suicide note released to the media by Choi's family,

   "I will also be tempted (to give false testimony) if the office of the presidential secretary for civil affairs makes such a suggestion to you," according to the note.

   Following the release, the presidential office denied the allegation, saying that the office has not contacted anybody.

   "The office never contacted or made any suggestion to officer Han," presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook told Yonhap News Agency in a phone interview.

   Choi was found dead in his car at around 2:30 p.m. Saturday near his hometown in Icheon, police said, citing the city in Gyeonggi Province, some 80 kilometers south of Seoul.

   Police on Sunday concluded that Choi had committed suicide and positively ruled out the possibility that he was murdered.

   Prosecutors earlier had filed for arrest warrants for Choi and Han, charging them with leaking the presidential document. But the Seoul Central District Court dismissed the request on Friday, citing "not enough reason to put them under detention."

   Since the court's decision, Choi had been on leave.

   The allegations over Jeong's behind-the-scenes intervention in state affairs have emerged as a nation-rocking political scandal, putting the Park administration in the hot seat as it enters its third year in power in late February.

   Park's younger brother, Ji-man, was scheduled to face questioning by prosecutors Monday amid speculation that he also has meddled in political affairs, putting himself on a collision course with Jeong Yun-hoe. (Yonhap)