Sexual harassment reported at embassy in the Hague

The Korean Embassy in Hague, the Netherlands, in this file photo on April 1, 2020. [YONHAP]

A woman working at Korea's Embassy in the Netherlands complained about being sexually harassed by a coworker, an Indian man in his 40s, the latest such case at an overseas mission.

“He touched my thigh and other areas [of my body], and would forcibly kiss me on my cheek and mouth,” the employee, a Korean woman in her 20s, told TV Chosun on Wednesday.

The woman said the alleged harassment occurred multiple times since she started working at the embassy in the Hague in March.

She reported the man to her superiors in May, along with recordings of some conversations with the man.

In one of them, aired by TV Chosun on Wednesday, the woman says, “You also touched my legs,” to which the man replies, “OK, I will never touch them, OK?”

The embassy reportedly suspended the man from work for two months and, after his return, tried to ensure the two did not work in the same space.

The woman told TV Chosun that she decided to quit over fear of possible reprisals from the man.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said it is looking into the case with “all seriousness.”

According to ministry regulations on sexual harrassment or assault, anyone employed at a Korean embassy -- diplomat or non-diplomat -- can be disciplined for sexually harassing or assaulting another person.

Disciplinary action for a non-diplomat, regardless of their country of citizenship, can include a written letter of reprimand; salary cut; suspension from work for up to three months; or dismissal.

The Korean Embassy in the Hague could not be reached for comment as of press time Thursday.

Sexual harassment cases at Korean diplomatic missions overseas have made headlines in recent years, including three cases of sexual harassment by Korean military attachés at the Korean Embassy in Beijing since 2016; the case of a Korean diplomat summoned from the Korean Embassy in Wellington for groping a male staff member in 2017; and the case of a Korean administrative staffer at the embassy in Nigeria who quit his job after he was found to have sexually harassed another administrative staffer in August 2020.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]