A former diplomat at the South Korean embassy in Wellington has been indicted in his homeland, having been accused of sexually assaulting a male staffer in 2017 while working in the capital.
According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, Kim Hongkon has been indicted on charges of forcible indecent assault, relating to claims he allegedly touched the complainant three times between November and December 2017.
He left the country in 2018.
A complaint was laid with New Zealand Police in 2019 and an arrest warrant was issued by Wellington District Court the following year on three charges of indecent assault.
Police later said they would not seek to extradite him back to New Zealand, officials having sought waivers of diplomatic immunity from the South Korean Government to carry out inquiries at the embassy.
Officials in Seoul blocked the investigation and in 2020 it became a diplomatic incident, when then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern raised it in a bilateral meeting with Korean President Moon Jae-Inn.
The complainant went to police in Seoul on his return to the country last year and now police have laid charges.
"I am not in a position to comment in detail; however this has been a very difficult time for me," the complainant told 1News.
"I am very relieved that Korean Police and Prosecutors have sought to bring this terrible experience before the court there."
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