Belgian Foreign Ministry Orders "Emergency Recall" Amid Ambassador's Spouse Assault Controversy

Sophie Wilm?s, Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ordered the Belgian Ambassador to South Korea to return immediately amid controversies surrounding his wife's repeated assault incidents.

On the 7th (local time), the U.S. political media outlet Politico and others reported, citing the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that the ambassador to South Korea must "return to the home country without delay."

Foreign Minister Sophie Wilm?s stated that while the situation regarding the ambassador's wife's assault case is "unclear," Ambassador Peter Lescouhier must "return to Belgium without delay."

Minister Wilm?s explained that this decision was made "to uphold the ambassador's responsibility to the host country and to maintain the very good relationship with South Korea." Local media reported that Ambassador Lescouhier, who was scheduled to return early in July, will now return even earlier than planned.

Ambassador Lescouhier's wife, Suechiou Xiang, caused controversy in April by assaulting a clothing store employee. On the 5th, she was heavily criticized for engaging in a physical altercation with a sanitation worker at Dokseodang Park in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, over the worker's broom touching her body.

In the first incident, the victim, the clothing store employee, did not file a police complaint, and in the second incident, neither Xiang nor the sanitation worker wished to press charges, so the case was closed without criminal prosecution.

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