A fired South Korean football club scout at the centre of a bribery scandal has been found hanged in an apparent suicide, police said Saturday.

Cha Jong-Bok, former scout for the disgraced Asian title-holders Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, had reportedly been under financial pressure after losing his job.

"An official of the club found him hanged from the balustrade" at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium in the southern city of Jeonju early Friday, a police spokesman told AFP.

Cha was sentenced to a six-month suspended jail term in September last year for bribing two referees a total of five million won ($4,413) in 2013.

The scout, who joined Jeonbuk in 2002, was immediately removed from his position after the ruling, while K-League leaders Jeonbuk were fined 100 million won ($83,000).

The Asian Football Confederation in January banned the defending champions from this year's competition due to its "indirect involvement" in manipulating the outcome of matches during the 2013 and 2014 K-League seasons.