What would happen if diplomats forsake their mission and responsibility? Certainly, they tend to put their personal interests before national ones. A probe by the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) into the nation’s overseas missions shows how some diplomats behave badly, tarnishing the image of Korea and bringing losses to taxpayers.
According to the inspection results, diplomats stationed at 12 Korean missions abroad issued visas to 436 unqualified applicants over the past two years. The inspection agency detected that 349 of them have become illegal immigrants with dozens of them subject to deportation.
One example was the consul general at the Korean Embassy in Beijing who ordered his subordinates to issue visas to nine Chinese who were not eligible to travel to Korea. Two of the Chinese were forced to leave while the others are still hiding somewhere in the country. A more serious case took place in Hong Kong where a Korean consul issued visas to 128 Filipino women whose applications did not meet requirements. Fifty-seven of them have overstayed to work here illegally.
These cases are seen as the tip of the iceberg in the so-called visa-selling business. Forgetting their status and duty, a large number of irresponsible and greedy diplomats have long forged corrupt ties with visa brokers.
Such visa-related irregularities culminated in a sex scandal involving several consuls in Shanghai early this year. The consuls had extramarital affairs with a female Chinese visa broker. They even developed a love triangle, fighting each other to monopolize her. What ugly and stupid diplomats they were!
Many corrupt diplomats have not confined their shameful act to money-for-visa schemes. They have often become bolder to divert budgets of their missions and organizations for personal use. They have usually cooked accounts in a bid to embezzle huge sums. Especially, heads of Korean education and cultural centers abroad have spent their organizations’ funds as if the money was their own personal assets.
Why have such wrongdoings continued to occur? The government has failed to take radical steps to root out irregularities in overseas missions. Right after the Shanghai scandal erupted, the Lee Myung-bak administration vowed to crack down on corrupt diplomats. But they have been long on words and short on action.
It is urgent to establish a tougher disciplinary system to sternly punish corrupt diplomats. It is also necessary to step up moral education and enforce a stricter code of ethics. Better personnel management is equally important to make diplomats have higher integrity and responsibility.