Ministry slammed for ethical lapses

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha attends a meeting at the Government Complex in Sejong, Thursday. Yonhap

Alleged lack of leadership corners Kang ahead of Cabinet reshuffle

By Lee Min-hyung

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is embroiled in yet another scandal after a ranking diplomat stationed in Japan has come under police investigation for allegedly molesting a subordinate member of staff.

The diplomat in his 50s is being summoned by the Korean police after the female officer reported the case to the nation's anti-corruption authority. He is a career diplomat whose former post included a bureau chief at the ministry's headquarters in Seoul.

Details of the incident have yet to be revealed as the investigation is still underway, according to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. The foreign ministry also declined to offer specific comments on the case as it is not the authority in charge of the investigation.

“To protect the victim, we cannot reveal anything regarding the case,” an official from the commission said Monday.

The latest incident comes at a crucial time when Seoul and Tokyo are engaged in a deepening trade and political dispute. Korea's Supreme Court ruled that Japanese companies were required to pay compensation to Koreans who were forced to work for them during WWII.

Japan's economic retaliation came earlier this month in the form of restrictions on exports of three key chemical materials to South Korea. Seoul's tech firms are being hit by the decision from Tokyo, as the materials are key to the manufacturing of semiconductors and display panels.

The suspect worked at one of the nine consular offices in Japan before he was summoned by the police. This has sparked accusations from Koreans that the ministry's overseas office is failing to fulfill its duties in a proper manner even at a time when the two countries are embroiled in a series of historical and economic disputes.

The major task of the consul general is to promote Korea's national interests in overseas territories and supervise overall economic affairs there related with the home country.

About two weeks ago, Seoul's Ambassador to Japan Nam Gwan-pyo even presided over an emergency meeting with South Korean consul generals in Japan to discuss countermeasures against Tokyo's export restrictions.

The mishap is expected to drive Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha into a corner ahead of a planned major Cabinet reshuffle early next month.

Before this, expectations were that Kang would retain her office after the reshuffle in consideration of a series of urgent diplomatic tasks, such as the escalating feud between Seoul and Tokyo and North Korea's recent military provocations.

Ever since Kang took office as the head of the ministry in June 2017, she has had to face controversies over her alleged lack of leadership skills, with staff involved in a number of reported ethical lapses.

Kang has promised a “zero tolerance” policy for any incidents surrounding staff members' lax discipline. Despite the warning message, however, the ministry has come under fire for its employees' frequent involvement in sexually or ethically inappropriate work ethics.

In 2017, she even introduced the so-called “one strike” policy under which any chiefs of diplomatic offices are banned from taking similar leadership posts in other places once they are punished for sex-related affairs.

For this reason, a rash of disputes surrounding Kang's “lack of leadership” has surfaced in recent months, raising calls that the ministry needs a change in leader and put priority on tightening its internal discipline.

In March, the ministry dismissed a diplomat at the South Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C. for leaking a confidential telephone conversation between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump to a Seoul-based lawmaker.

Even though dismissal is the highest-level of discipline and the incident caused huge social repercussions here, this didn't stop another senior diplomat in Japan who was summoned for alleged acts of lax discipline.

Earlier this month, South Korean Ambassador to Malaysia Toh Kyung-hwan was dismissed from his post for abuse of power and violation of the nation's Anti-Corruption Law.