Ukrainian Envoy Accused of Drunk Driving
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
The Ukrainian ambassador to Korea crashed into two vehicles while allegedly driving intoxicated in May, injuring one of the two Korean drivers involved, multiple sources told The Korea Times.
Police officers rushed to the scene to perform a field sobriety test, but the ambassador locked himself in his car for one-and-a-half hours and refused to take the test, citing diplomatic immunity.
The case was disclosed after the government announced measures to minimize the abuse of immunity privileges by diplomats.
At that time, police allowed the ambassador to leave the scene.
``Employees from the Ukrainian Embassy came to the scene at that time and confirmed the identity of the person inside the car and then a domestic insurance company reaffirmed it,'' Kim Hyung-gon, a senior officer at Jungbu Police Station in central Seoul who is familiar with the case, told The Korea Times. ``We couldn't force the diplomat to undergo the test to check whether he was driving under the influence.''
According to police, Ambassador Volodymyr Belashov, 58, crashed into a luxury sedan somewhere around a large shopping mall in Myeongdong, central Seoul, at 9:25 p.m., May 12. But he kept driving and then ran into another vehicle, a taxi, about five minutes later near Jangchung Gymnasium.
The taxi driver had to be hospitalized for two weeks after the accident, police said.
``The diplomat's insurance covered all costs needed for medical bills and repairs to the victims' cars,'' Kim said.
Ambassador Belashov spent nearly three decades representing Ukraine at the United Nations (UN) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) before being posted to in Korea in October last year.
Another senior diplomat belonging to the Ukrainian Embassy in Seoul was caught for drunk driving on the same night in Itaewon, police confirmed, but he also cited diplomatic immunity in refusing a sobriety test.
The diplomat also locked himself in his car, demanding he be released, police said, raising speculation the two diplomats were on their way back from a drinking party that night.
The ambassador was not immediately available for comment.
The government put into effect a new guideline aimed at curbing the abuse of diplomatic privileges, Monday, amid growing concerns over infractions of this power by diplomats.
Foreign diplomats are immune from criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits thanks to privileges set out in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
Under the new guideline, however, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade will to notify the countries involved when diplomats break local laws.
In serious cases, the authorities may request a waiver of diplomatic immunity or even expel the diplomat from the country.