Diplomatic disgrace spiked by government

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) has started investigating an accusation over the controversial lifting of a travel ban on Lee Jong-sup, the newly appointed ambassador to Australia and a former defense minister. The CIO took the action after a liberal civic group filed a complaint over President Yoon Suk Yeol’s decision to allow Lee to leave Korea for his new role as ambassador despite the travel ban for his alleged involvement in the suspicious death of a Marine on a rescue mission last year.

The controversy grew after the majority Democratic Party (DP) proposed a bill to appoint a special prosecutor to look into the case. Lee began work as the new ambassador to Australia from Tuesday.

The government cannot avoid responsibility for prompting the controversy by itself. The lead-up to Lee’s departure shows a number of mismatching decisions by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice. Even after the former defense minister was banned from leaving the country over criminal suspicions, the Justice Ministry nonchalantly let him depart from the airport. The Yoon administration has been criticized for its repeated failures to scrutinize the qualifications of several nominees for senior government posts, including the case over the nominee to head the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said there will be no problem in the investigation of the defense minister. But the CIO, an extraordinary law enforcement body created by the DP during the Moon Jae-in administration, worries about possible disruptions of its investigation due to Lee’s new position. Lee appeared at the CIO for four hours of questioning last week. But the CIO cannot but wait until he returns for another probe.

The government lifted the travel ban a day after Lee was investigated by the CIO, briefly educated him about the ambassador’s role, and gave him a copy of a letter of credence. Even Na Kyung-won — co-chair of the campaign headquarters of the governing People Power Party (PPP) for the April 10 parliamentary elections — demanded the government reflect over its procedural flaws.

ABC, Australia’s state-run broadcaster, reported Lee’s arrival in the country, describing him as an ambassador “implicated in a corruption investigation over the death of a soldier.” Such a report is an international shame. The controversy should have been avoided if Australia really is an important security and defense partner.

The Foreign Ministry of Australia says it welcomes the new ambassador. But his new role as ambassador will certainly shrink if he is required to go back and forth between the two countries for investigation. That does not help the government. The president and the new ambassador must think again.