Belgium on Friday mentioned it would recall its ambassador to South Korea after the envoy’s spouse was accused of assaulting two boutique workers in an incident that went viral.
Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes ordered Ambassador Peter Lescouhier to finish his mission this summer time, a press release mentioned, including that that his partner, Xiang Xueqiu, had met privately with the workers to apologise.
“Now that Mrs. Xiang Xueqiu has personally introduced her excuses and cooperated with the police, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sophie Wilmès has determined that it’s in the perfect curiosity of our bilateral relations to finish Ambassador Lescouhier’s tenure within the Republic of Korea this summer time,” the statement said.
It has “become clear that the current situation doesn’t allow him to further carry out his role in a serene way,” the assertion mentioned.
The international ministry added that Belgium had waived Xiang’s diplomatic immunity and that Belgian authorities “will in fact proceed to cooperate with the Korean authorities as wanted.”
This followed widespread public anger over the possible claim for diplomatic immunity, which protects diplomats and their families from criminal prosecution.
Officers questioned Xiang earlier this month after the embassy said she would cooperate with police.
CCTV camera footage showed her pulling at one employee’s arm and hitting her in the head, before slapping another worker who tried to intervene across the face.
The footage — provided by the family of an alleged victim — was widely reported by local media and circulated online and turned public opinion sharply against the ambassador’s family.
The Belgian embassy initially issued the ambassador’s apology in a bilingual Facebook post as it sought to contain the damage, but its Korean translation sounded heavy-handed, further souring some reactions.
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