South Korean police said Thursday they are searching for Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon after his daughter reported him missing.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Park's daughter filed a police report at around 5:15 p.m. that he "had left home four to five hours ago after leaving words like a will, with his phone currently off."

The police and the city have confirmed that Park, wearing a hat and jumper and carrying a backpack, left the mayor's official residence in Seoul early in the day and did not show up for work, while he canceled a scheduled event appearance.

Police are reportedly concentrating their search in the area of Gilsangsa Temple in Seoul's northeastern ward of Seongbuk where his mobile phone signal was last accessed.

Park, a human rights lawyer, was first elected mayor of Seoul in 2011. He was re-elected in 2014 and again in 2018.

A prominent politician belonging to the ruling Democratic Party, he was tipped as potential presidential candidate.