98.5% of foreign diplomats involved in crimes in Korea leverage diplomatic immunity to evade charges

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Foreign diplomats stationed in Korea, or their family members, have committed some 70 crimes such as driving under the influence (DUI) and theft in the past five years. But 98.5 percent of them enjoyed diplomatic immunity and avoided criminal punishment, an opposition lawmaker said, Friday, calling for the need to overhaul the diplomatic immunity system.

According to documents that Rep. Park Hong-keun of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) obtained from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a total of 71 criminal cases committed by foreign diplomats or their family members were reported between 2019 and this August.

Among them, 55 were committed by diplomats themselves, while the remaining 16 involved their spouses or children as culprits.

Only one out of the 71 waived diplomatic immunity, leaving an overwhelming 98.5 percent free from facing criminal charges.

The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations offers diplomatic agents immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the receiving state.

The foreign ministry refused to reveal the details of the cases, citing diplomatic relations with other countries, but noted that most of the incidents involved traffic accidents and theft.

Several controversial cases involving foreign diplomats have made media headlines.

On Oct. 9, a Mongolian diplomat to Korea was caught by police on suspicion of DUI, but the diplomat refused to take a sobriety test, citing diplomatic immunity.

Police said the diplomat was obviously drunk as he smelled of alcohol. But the case was closed in accordance with diplomatic immunity. An officer of the Mongolian Embassy later came to the scene to pick up the diplomat.

Earlier in July, a diplomat at the Ukrainian Embassy was caught red-handed assaulting a police officer who was called to the scene of a quarrel at a bar in Seoul. But the person was released the next day and avoided punishment using immunity.

In April 2021, the wife of the former Belgian ambassador was investigated for assaulting a salesperson at a clothing shop in Seoul. She left the country unpunished in July.

A diplomat from the Rwandan Embassy was caught drunk driving in 2020 after having his license revoked due to a DUI offense but also went scot-free.

Rep. Park urged the government to curb abuses of diplomatic privilege in cases irrelevant to public interest and diplomacy.

“If a foreign diplomat or their family member has clearly committed a crime or if diplomatic immunity is to be used for personal reasons, the foreign ministry should actively request the dispatched country to waive immunity,” Park said.