Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
Foreign ministry admits confusion over envoy's location after Libya attack
By Yi Whan-woo
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday admitted that officials wrongly reported the location of Korea’s top envoy to Libya when the Islamic State (IS) group purportedly attacked Seoul’s diplomatic mission in Tripoli, Sunday.
The foreign ministry said outgoing Korean Ambassador to Libya Lee Jong-kook was in Seoul when the incident took place, reversing its previous statement that he was in Tunis, Tunisia on his way back home.
The government’s clarification came after growing concerns over safety of the Korean nationals in the Middle East amid threats posed by the IS in the region against the U.S. allies, including Korea.
Korea has been running a separate and interim Tripoli mission in Tunis amid intensifying conflicts in civil-war-torn Libya where the IS has been seeking to expand its influence.
Lee received reports from his staff in Libya and was well-informed about the deadly attack, according to the ministry’s African and Middle Eastern Affairs official, who gave a media briefing Sunday on condition of anonymity.
He added Lee, who completed his three-year term, was scheduled to return home soon.
The foreign ministry then reversed its previous statement, Tuesday, saying that Lee has been in Seoul since April 1.
It said Lee also completed a change-over of the job to his successor Kim Young-chae, who began his job in Tripoli from Monday.
The foreign ministry attributed its failure to locate Lee to a lack of communication among its divisions.
Lee exclusively notified the ministry’s personnel management division of his return to Seoul, but it did not share that information with other divisions.
Lee only reported his arrival to the African and Middle Eastern Affairs division on Monday, according to the government.
Two Libyan police guards were killed when a group of gunmen fired 40 machine gunshots on the embassy compound Sunday at 1:20 a.m. in Tripoli, which was Sunday at 8:20 a.m. in Seoul. Another officer is hospitalized in critical condition with injuries he sustained in the attack.
The Tripoli branch of the IS claimed responsibility for the attack on its Twitter account two hours after the incident.