hankyoreh

Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha

A newly released document shows that, even after staff at the South Korean consulate in Seattle complained that the vice consul abused his authority and repeatedly used horrific obscenities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) was lackadaisical in its response. After a series of incidents at diplomatic missions overseas, South Korean President Moon Jae-in stepped in to instruct MOFA to be stricter about managing its employees, but MOFA continues to focus on “looking after its own.”

According to a document made public on Oct. 20 by Lee Tae-gyu, a lawmaker with the People’s Party on the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, the vice consul regularly used obscene and abusive language with administrative staff at the consulate.

Employees complained that the vice consul hurled curse words at them and used language that was insulting and humiliating. Some of the phrases reported are as follows: “Even if you leave the company, I’ll never stop harassing you.” “How can you even get by on that salary?” “I’m one of the top 30 wealthiest people at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

Some of the vice consul’s remarks were baffling and bizarre. “I bet human flesh would taste great. I plan to try it some time.” “My grandmother is Japanese, and she’s the one who helped Koreans survive on bread.”

Fed up with the vice consul’s behavior, administrative staff at the Seattle consulate filed a complaint to his superiors in October 2019. The complaint listed 16 illegal behaviors, including abusive language, forgery of private documents, manipulation of the price of goods, and appropriation of budgeted funds. The consulate immediately asked MOFA to carry out an audit.

In late November 2019, inspectors from MOFA’s audit department arrived at the consulate for an on-site audit. But they did not interview the administrative staff who had been the victims of the vice consul’s abusive language. Staff members suspect that MOFA’s chief auditor was trying to cover for the vice consul, who had been part of the audit department before his appointment as vice consul. All the audit department did was send out a questionnaire to administrative staff over MOFA’s official email in January, which didn’t allow anonymous responses.

In the end, the audit department only confirmed two incidents of abusive language and one incident of inappropriate remarks. The only punishment that the vice consul received was a “warning” issued by the foreign minister and an “institutional reprimand” by the Seattle consulate.

The warning is not one of the disciplinary measures outlined in the State Public Officials Act. MOFA justified its decision on the grounds that “the testimony was contradictory, and there was no supporting evidence.”

Lee Tae-gyu described the incident as “an example of not only the slack discipline at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but also Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha’s lack of resolve to stamp out illegal behavior at the ministry.”

MOFA continues to hold that its response was appropriate. “The ministry carried out a thorough investigation into the complaints that were filed and took appropriate action based on that investigation,” said Lee Jae-ung, the ministry’s deputy spokesperson, during the regular press conference on Oct. 20.

By Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter

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