The mayor of Busan city, who had been on trial on bribery charges, has apparently hanged himself in a jail where he was being detained.

An official at the Busan Detention House said a guard found Ahn Sang-young's body hanging from a fan in his solitary cell early on Wednesday morning. Prison officials suspect that Ahn hanged himself using a rope made from the undershirt he was wearing.

He was being held in a separate cell in the prison's medical ward prior to the discovery of his body.

Prosecution and prison officials are currently investigating the exact cause of death.

The mayor of the nation's second largest city is known to have been under severe psychological pressure ahead of an imminent sentencing in a bribery case.

The 64-year-old Ahn was arrested in October on charges of receiving one hundred million won or some 85-thousand U.S. dollars in bribes from a local construction company in return for business favors. He was also suspected of taking an additional three-hundred million won in bribes from a bus operator.

Ahn was re-elected to a second four-year term as mayor of the southeastern city in 2002.