Envoy to Australia attends arms meeting of mission chiefs, critics call it a ruse

Ambassador to Australia Lee Jong-sup attends a defense industry cooperation meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Thursday. [YONAHP]

A joint meeting of diplomatic mission chiefs to major defense industry partners, including Ambassador to Australia Lee Jong-sup, began on Thursday and will continue through next week.

Critics say the meeting is being extended to justify Lee’s stay in Korea, as the former defense minister is under investigation for allegedly intervening in a probe into the death of a young Marine last year.

The plenary session of the joint meeting, which kicked off Thursday morning, was attended by Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho, First Vice Trade Minister Kang Kyung-sung, Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) Minister Seok Jong-gun and ambassadors to six countries — Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Qatar and Poland.

Held a week after Lee returned to Korea on March 21, the meeting began without Lee answering any of the reporters' questions about his schedule in Korea or the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) investigation into him.

“The specific schedule for the meeting is broadly divided into the three categories of meetings between the foreign, defense and trade ministers, the joint plenary session and visits by related organizations and defense companies,” said a Foreign Ministry official during a regular briefing Thursday.

The Democratic Party and other critics accuse the government of hastily arranging the joint defense industry cooperation meeting to bring Lee back to Korea early.

Lee returned to the country from Australia just 11 days after he left to assume the position of ambassador to Canberra. Critics allege that keeping the ambassador in Korea for a prolonged time without specifying a purpose or schedule is a diplomatic discourtesy to Australia.

Concerns have also been raised that the five other ambassadors gathered in Seoul for the defense meeting may have their duties disrupted.

Lee’s appointment as ambassador to Australia was met with much backlash because the CIO is currently investigating him. In remarks Wednesday, Lee argued there were “no illegalities whatsoever” in his actions as defense minister.

The Foreign Ministry continues to emphasize that Lee’s activities during his stay in the country are official.

According to the ministry, Lee explained trends in the defense sector and details of the cooperation between Seoul and Canberra, including the Australian purchase of Korean-developed infantry fighting vehicles worth $2.4 billion last year, to Foreign Minister Cho during their meeting last Friday.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]