KTO chief quits over alleged brothel visit

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KTO chief quits over alleged brothel visit

이참 한국관광공사 사장, 전격 사퇴

Posted : 2013-11-15 16:25

Updated : 2013-11-15 16:25

Lee Charm, president of the Korea Tourism Organization, answers questions from reporters after announcing his resignation, Friday following allegations he visited a "soapland" brothel in Japan. / Yonhap

Lee Charm pledges to file defamation suit

By Kim Tong-hyung

Lee Charm, Korea's tourism chief, stepped down Friday amid allegations he had been a sex tourist.

The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) president became the target of intense media coverage after cable television network JTBC reported Tuesday that Lee was treated by business partners at one of Tokyo's popular ''soapland'' facilities ― where customers engage in non-penetrative sex with prostitutes ― during last year's Lunar New Year's break.

In his parting statement, Lee, a 59-year-old naturalized Korean who was born in Germany, dismissed the JTBC report and criticized the broadcaster for ''unilaterally'' airing the claims of its source instead of crosschecking facts.

He denied that he went to a brothel. However, that was inconsistent with what journalists were told after the JTBC report. Talking to beat reporters on Wednesday, a KTO public relations officer explained that Lee did visit a soapland venue in the Yoshiwara district, but didn't receive sexual services and paid for the conventional massage he did receive.

''In early 2012, I took a personal vacation and went on a trip to Japan for the hot springs. I was accompanied by an executive of a company that had a business partnership with KTO … I did not receive unjust treatment from a Japanese company and I didn't go to a soapland venue, but a normal, legal place to rest a little after dinner,'' Lee said in the statement.

''I would like to restore my honor through legal proceedings and I am confident that I will be successful in doing so. However, the issue has created enormous pressure and a burden for the KTO and I am stepping down since it's entirely impossible for me to normally serve my duty as president.''

The JTBC report was based on a source who claimed he accompanied Lee to the brothel. He claimed that Lee receive the most expensive 70,000 yen ($700) service, which was paid for by the chief executive of a Japanese travel agency Lee met during the trip.

The KTO claims that the man, an owner of a company in the business of operating tourism information kiosks, was deliberately attempting to smear Lee's public image after his business with KTO fell through.

Regardless of whether Lee was served sexual activities or not, it would be difficult for him to answer questions on why ― as a high-profile public employee ― he took someone he had an existing business relationship with on what was said to be a private vacation.

Soapland is a popular type of brothel developed in Japan after the country legally banned sexual intercourse for money in the 1950s. Paying for penetrative and non-penetrative sex is illegal under Korean law.

이참 한국관광공사 사장, 전격 사퇴

'일본 성인업소 마사지 논란'에 휘말린 이참 한국관광공사 사장이 15일 전격 사퇴했다.

이 사장은 이날 보도자료를 통해 '일본 성인업소 출입 사실은 사실과 다르며 제보자의 주장만을 일방적으로 보도한 것은 유감이 아닐 수 없다'며 사퇴의 뜻을 전했다.

이 사장은 '법적인 절차를 밟아 훼손된 명예를 회복하고 싶으며 그럴 자신도 있다'고 덧붙였다.

이 사장은 그러나 '이 문제로 관광공사 조직에 가해지는 압박과 부담이 대단히 크고 정상적인 업무 수행이 도저히 불가능해 사퇴한다'고 밝혔다.

이 사장은 이어 관광공사에서 열린 퇴임식에서 '억울하지만 이 사태를 해결하기 위해 노력하다 보면 조직에 부담을 줄 수밖에 없어 어쩔 수 없이 사퇴하게 됐다'고 심경을 피력했다.

그는 '그간 많은 일을 의욕적으로 벌여 왔으나 직원들이 큰 불편없이 따라줘서 큰 성과가 있었다'고 자평했다.

이 사장은 지난해 설 연휴에 일본 관광회사 부사장의 초청을 받아 관광공사의 용역업체 회장·임원 등과 함께 일본을 방문한 뒤 도쿄 요시와라에 있는 `소프랜드'라는 성인업소를 방문했다는 의혹이 제기됐다.

이 사장의 일본 성인업소 출입은 지난 12일 이 사장과 함께 일본에 갔던 용역업체 이모 씨가 모 방송에 출연해 폭로하면서 불거졌다.

이 사장은 지난 2009년 한국관광공사 사장에 임명된 뒤 3년 임기를 채운 뒤 1년 연임을 하고 지난 7월 임기가 종료됐으나 후임 사장이 정해지지 않아 계속 자리를 지켜왔다.

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr