SEOUL, South Korea - President Park Geun-hye of South Korea has fired her spokesman for committing an “unsavory” act while he was traveling with her on her state visit to Washington, her office announced Friday. The South Korean media had reported an allegation that the official sexually groped a young woman.
The firing of the spokesman, Yoon Chang-jung, was announced after Yoon abruptly broke off from the presidential delegation visiting Washington and returned home earlier this week. South Korean media reported that he left Washington in such a hurry that he did not pack his belongings in his hotel room.
The whereabouts of Yoon, 56, have not been known since his return home. Lee Nam-ki, Park’s senior presidential press secretary and Yoon’s immediate supervisor, said that the spokesman was fired for an “unsavory act that was inappropriate fora high-ranking government official and damaged the national prestige.”
South Korean journalists accompanying Park on her trip reported that Yoon was accused of unwanted sexual contact with a young woman hired as an intern at the South Korean Embassy in Washington and that the act occurred while he was drinking.
The firing dealt a blow to Park just as her office has been billing her Washington trip as an impeccable success. She held a summit meeting with President Barack Obama on Tuesday and spoke before the U.S. Congress the next day.
But while she was on her way back to South Korea on Friday, a political firestorm was brewing at home.
Park and her office “should deeply reflect on their appointment of the wrong personnel and apologize to the people,” said Kim Kwan-young, a spokesman at the main opposition, the Democratic Party, calling for a thorough investigation of the case that he said “caused national shame.”
Park’s office had earlier apologized after at least a half-dozen people nominated as ministers and vice ministers in her government were forced to quit amid questions over their ethical standards. As a result, her approval ratings plummeted, recovering in recent weeks over her handling of North Korea’s nuclear threats.
A Washington police report on the case, copies of which were carried in South Korean media, did not mention Yoon by name, identifying the suspect only as a 56-year-old male. The victim reported that the suspect “grabbed her buttocks without her permission,” the report said.
Yoon, a former journalist and political columnist, has been the most contentious political appointee in Park’s government. As an online political commentator, he used to launch vicious attacks against Park’s domestic enemies, once calling them “political prostitutes.”
She first made him the spokesman for her transition team after her December election. Despite protests from the opposition, she stood by him once again when she made him a presidential spokesman.
On Friday, the main opposition party said the Washington scandal was a “foreseeable tragedy” because of Park’s refusal to heed her critics.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 05/11/2013