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| A photo of presidential spokesman Yoon Chang-jung is seen on the table during the main opposition Democratic Party's emergency meeting Friday to deal with the allegation that Yoon made an unwarranted sexual advance on an intern hired for the Korea-U.S. summit in Washington. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun |
Yoon allegedly groped intern during Korea-US summit
By Kim Tae-gyu, Kang Seung-woo
LOS ANGELES/Seoul _ Presidential spokesman Yoon Chang-jung was fired for a "disgraceful" act in the middle of President Park Geun-hye's U.S. trip, Cheong Wa Dae announced Thursday.
Yoon had allegedly sexually abused an intern hired by the Korean Embassy in Washington during President Park's summit with President Barack Obama, according to sources and Cheong Wa Dae officials.
U.S. police are investigating the allegations.
Lee Nam-ki, Park's senior secretary for public relations, held an emergency press conference in Los Angeles and confirmed Yoon's dismissal, although he didn't specify the nature of the incident.
"President Park decided to fire Yoon because his inappropriate act for a high-level official during the U.S. visit hurt the national dignity," Lee said.
"We are checking out the details through the Korean Embassy in the United States and will transparently make them public as soon as they are confirmed," he said.
After briefing on Park's meetings with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York and U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington, Yoon, 56, dropped out of the presidential entourage on the President's trip to Los Angeles, Wednesday, and returned to Korea alone on a Korean Air flight Thursday, raising speculation as to what forced him to cut the trip short.
On the website of "Missy USA," an online community for Korean women in the U.S., a posting was put up claiming that Yoon sexually harassed a Korean-American student who was interning for the Korean Embassy during the summit, but the presidential official did not confirm whether this was true. The Washington D.C. Police Department was confirmed to have launched an investigation after Yoon's alleged victim filed a report.
"We are investigating the report of a misdemeanor sexual abuse. We cannot comment further, at this time," Gwendolyn Crump, director of the Office of Communications at the Metropolitan Police Department, told Yonhap News.
Yonhap reported the intern as saying a suspect, described as a 56-year-old male, "grabbed her buttocks without her permission" at a Washington hotel and the event happened between 9:30 and 10 p.m. Tuesday.
The victim, in her early 20s, was temporarily hired by the embassy to assist on the president's visit.
The unprecedented incident involving the dismissal of a high-ranking presidential official during the leader's overseas trip is overshadowing Park's U.S. visit that emphasized the new Korean government's reinforced alliance with Washington.
During the six-day trip, Park and Obama agreed to unite against North Korean threats and Park also addressed a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.
"It is regretful that the incident took place when the U.S. visit is being described as successful from both inside and outside Cheong Wa Dae," Lee said.
After briefing on Park's meetings with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York and U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington, Yoon, 56, dropped out of the presidential entourage on the President's trip to Los Angeles, Wednesday, and returned to Korea alone on a Korean Air flight Thursday, raising speculation as to what forced him to cut the trip short.
On the website of "Missy USA," an online community for Korean women in the U.S., a posting was put up claiming that Yoon sexually harassed a Korean-American student who was interning for the Korean Embassy during the summit, but the presidential official did not confirm whether this was true. The Washington D.C. Police Department was confirmed to have launched an investigation after Yoon's alleged victim filed a report.
"We are investigating the report of a misdemeanor sexual abuse. We cannot comment further, at this time," Gwendolyn Crump, director of the Office of Communications at the Metropolitan Police Department, told Yonhap News.
Yonhap reported the intern as saying a suspect, described as a 56-year-old male, "grabbed her buttocks without her permission" at a Washington hotel and the event happened between 9:30 and 10 p.m. Tuesday.
The victim, in her early 20s, was temporarily hired by the embassy to assist on the president's visit.
The unprecedented incident involving the dismissal of a high-ranking presidential official during the leader's overseas trip is overshadowing Park's U.S. visit that emphasized the new Korean government's reinforced alliance with Washington.
During the six-day trip, Park and Obama agreed to unite against North Korean threats and Park also addressed a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.
"It is regretful that the incident took place when the U.S. visit is being described as successful from both inside and outside Cheong Wa Dae," Lee said.
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