Honduras withdrawing envoy appointment here

The Honduran government has withdrawn its request to the Korean government to approve Korean-born Kang Young-shin to be the next Honduran ambassador to Seoul.

A diplomatic source here said Honduras cited “issues with local law” as the main reason to withdraw the request. Kang, who was born in Korea and moved to Honduras in 1977, became a citizen of the country in 1987.

Under Honduran law, a naturalized citizen isn’t allowed to represent Honduras in his or her native country. Honduras’ President Porfirio Lobo, who has been friends with Kang since the mid-1980s, personally asked Kang to become the ambassador in February.

Kang would have become the first Korean native to serve in Seoul for a foreign nation.

When she became a Honduran citizen, Kang relinquished her Korean citizenship. Last year, Kang is said to have applied to reacquire that citizenship.

Under Korean law, Kang wouldn’t have been able to serve here as a dual citizen. But the source said Honduras’ decision to withdraw the request had nothing to do with the citizenship situation.

Kang, a former elementary school teacher in Korea, built a Korean school in Honduras in 1994 and has been a principal there ever since.

By Yoo Jee-ho [jeeho@joongang.co.kr]