The U.S. government drew a clear line Monday between a sex scandal roiling South Korea and Seoul-Washington relations.
Police in Washington, D.C., apparently at the instruction of federal prosecutors, are looking into allegations that then-presidential spokesman Yoon Chang-jung sexually abused a Korean-American woman during his stay here last week as part of the entourage accompanying President Park Geun-hye.
The scandal has already dealt a heavy blow to the image of the Park administration, although Yoon publicly denied the allegations that he "grabbed the buttocks" of an intern in her early 20s dealing with duties related with Park's visit.