Kim Ki-hyun: "LA Consulate Staff Accused of Sexual Harassment, No Disciplinary Action Over 3 Months After Incident"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] It has been confirmed that no disciplinary action has been taken for over three months regarding the sexual harassment incident involving a National Intelligence Service (NIS) employee dispatched to the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles (LA), USA.

On the 7th, Kim Ki-hyun, a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee from the People Power Party, revealed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that an NIS employee dispatched to work at the LA Consulate General forcibly sexually harassed a contract female employee inside the consulate at the end of June.

A, a senior official of the NIS who held a deputy consul general-level position at the LA Consulate General, was confirmed to have committed sexual harassment against contract female employee B inside the consulate around June 23. The harassment included forced kissing and groping of the groin area immediately after a staff dinner gathering involving alcohol.

Immediately after the incident, B filed a complaint against A with the police, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs only became aware of the incident around mid-July after receiving notification from the police that an investigation would commence. The police secured relevant evidence through the investigation and referred A to the prosecution with charges of forcible sexual molestation.

Representative Kim stated, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not recognize the incident for one month after it occurred, and even after receiving notification of the investigation, they handled it without following the ministry’s guidelines, including conducting a lukewarm investigation of A and failing to initiate disciplinary procedures." He criticized, "As seen in the New Zealand sexual harassment case, the low level of gender sensitivity among Minister Kang and other Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff is causing suffering for powerless contract female employees."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.