LA Consulate General NIS Senior Official Sexually Harasses Staff... Ministry of Foreign Affairs Fails to Discipline (Comprehensive)

Follow-up Measures by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Likely to Be Discussed

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is taking the witness oath at the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee's audit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held at the National Assembly on the 7th. / 2020.10.07

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] It has been confirmed that disciplinary action has not been taken for over three months regarding a sexual harassment incident involving a senior official from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) dispatched to the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles (LA), USA. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was criticized for the New Zealand diplomat sexual misconduct case that occurred in 2018 and escalated into a diplomatic conflict, is expected to face renewed scrutiny over its follow-up measures.

On the 7th, Kim Ki-hyun, a member of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee from the People Power Party, announced that through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was confirmed that a senior NIS official dispatched to work at the LA Consulate General forcibly sexually harassed a contract female employee within the consulate at the end of June.

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

Immediately after the incident, B filed a complaint against A with the local police, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs only became aware of the case around mid-July after receiving notification from the police that an investigation had commenced. The police secured relevant evidence through the investigation and forwarded the case to the prosecution with a charge of forcible sexual harassment against A. However, even after being notified by the U.S. police, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not proceed with disciplinary procedures, and A reportedly returned to Korea at the end of July and resumed work at the NIS without any disciplinary action, maintaining his official status. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reportedly explained this by saying, "It was not easy to handle because he was an NIS employee."

Representative Kim criticized, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not recognize the incident for a month after it occurred, and even after receiving notification of the investigation, it did not follow the Ministry’s guidelines by conducting a lukewarm investigation of A and failing to initiate disciplinary procedures. As seen in the New Zealand sexual harassment case, powerless contract female employees are suffering due to the low gender sensitivity of Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and other Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff."

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