French Rotary student found dead in Daegu

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French Rotary student found dead in Daegu

A French exchange student was found dead outside an apartment in Daegu on Monday, local police announced on Wednesday.

The 17-year-old female French citizen was an exchange student of Rotary International, studying at a local high school in Daegu’s Suseong District. Police said a security guard called police when he found the student dead in front of an apartment in Suseong on Monday.

Upon entering the 14th floor apartment, police found the window in her room open. Authorities suspect the French citizen jumped from the 14th floor of the apartment, though police as of press time on Wednesday said investigations are still ongoing and the exact cause of death has not been determined.

The student had been staying with a Korean family at the apartment since September, when she came to Korea as an exchange student via Rotary International. She was scheduled to return to France this June.

“As far as we know, there appears to be a rule within Rotary for international students that forbids them from consuming drugs, smoking, drinking and dating while they are here as exchange students,” said a police officer of the Suseong Police Precinct. “Once the students violate these rules, they are apparently sent back to their home countries.”

The officer added, “We are still investigating whether she was found to have violated such a rule and was to be sent back to France.”

As of press time, the only evidence to suggest she did in fact violate any of those rules was a voice message police reportedly found, sent by the French student to her Korean boyfriend, shortly before she died.

In investigating other possible causes for the French student’s death, the officer said police are looking into whether the student’s relations with her parents in France may have recently gone sour.

The police officer added that her relations with the Korean family she was staying with seemed “nothing out of the ordinary.”

BY ESTHER CHUNG, CHOI WOO-SEOK [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]
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