SEOUL – Police have questioned the wife of Belgium’s ambassador to South Korea over accusations she hit two boutique staff in the head in a row over shoplifting, officials said today.
Ambassador Peter Lescouhier has previously said he “sincerely regrets the incident involving his wife”, adding that he “wants to apologise on her behalf”.
“No matter the circumstances, the way she reacted is unacceptable.”
The woman, named in media reports as Xiang Xueqiu, was questioned yesterday, said a detective at Yongsan police station, without providing further details.
Reports said the woman tried on clothing in a Seoul store before walking out, prompting an assistant to run after her to ask about an item she was wearing and triggering the confrontation.
CCTV footage showed her pulling at one employee’s arm and hitting her in the head, before slapping another worker who tried to intervene across the face.
The footage – provided by the family of an alleged victim – was widely reported by local media and circulated online and turned public opinion sharply against the ambassador’s family.
The Belgian embassy issued the ambassador’s apology in a bilingual Facebook post as it sought to contain the damage, but its Korean translation sounded heavy-handed, further souring some reactions.
“You are apologising in that tone?” asked a poster on Naver, the country’s largest portal.
“Do you really reflect your country’s stature?”
Ambassadors’ wives enjoy diplomatic immunity but the embassy said she will cooperate with police. – AFP, May 7, 2021
