Top court rules in favor of dismissal of former Korean ambassador to Vietnam

The Supreme Court of Korea. [NEWS1]

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled in favor of the Foreign Ministry's decision to dismiss former Korean Ambassador to Vietnam Kim Do-hyon in 2019 for receiving free hotel accommodation and other benefits from a local company.

Kim, a former Samsung Electronics executive, was appointed as the top diplomat to Vietnam in April 2018 but was dismissed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in June 2019 for violating antigraft law and other irregularities.

He was found to have received free airline tickets and a three-night stay at a luxury hotel run by a Vietnamese businessman while attending a golf course opening event in Vietnam in October 2018 with his family.

Kim also arranged free hotel stays for former and current executives at his former company and received ceramic gifts. He later returned the gifts.

He has also been accused of verbally abusing his subordinates at work.

In March 2019, the Foreign Ministry recalled Kim over allegations of misconduct after an internal audit and its disciplinary committee called for severe punishment. It also filed a complaint with prosecution.

In September 2019, Kim filed an administrative lawsuit against the Foreign Ministry seeking to reverse its dismissal decision, calling the punishment excessive.

A lower court initially ruled in favor of the ministry's decision, denying Kim's request to cancel his dismissal.

However, the Seoul High Court later overturned the ruling, finding that arranging such meetings between Vietnamese companies and Korean corporate executives falls within the scope of an ambassador's official duties.

In Wednesday's ruling, the Supreme Court reversed this and determined that Kim's free accommodation cannot be determined to be "within the normal scope" of benefits allowed for public servants under the antigraft act.

The top court said that the embassy usually sets accommodation fees at less than $200 per night for business trips, but former Ambassador Kim pushed for accommodations averaging $530 per night, which falls outside what is considered the normal scope.

Article 8 of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act stipulates that public servants should not accept any money or goods exceeding 1 million won at a time ($754), or three million won in a fiscal year, from the same person, regardless of any connection to their duties.

It ruled that Kim was seen to have exerted influence derived from his position as ambassador, which amounted to an act of requesting perks "outside of regular practice."

The court also said that Kim's failure to report the gifts he received is indeed in violation of the Public Service Ethics Act, which requires public servants to file a report on gifts of a certain value they receive from foreigners or foreign organization, regardless of whether they are returned or not.

Kim was a diplomat who joined Seoul's Foreign Ministry in 1993 before he was recruited by Samsung in 2013.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]