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SBS KOREA/SCREENSHOT/Stuff
Ex-prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s conversation with Korean President Moon Jae-in made headlines in Korea in 2020. Here, South Korean television network SBS runs a story on New Zealand’s attempted prosecution of Korean diplomat Hongkon Kim.
A South Korean diplomat who allegedly sexually assaulted a New Zealander may face charges in Seoul, after a New Zealand investigation stalled.
The development in the long-running case has come after the Wellington-based complainant, who was employed by the South Korean embassy in 2017 when the alleged assault happened, travelled to Seoul in late-2022 to file a police complaint.
South Korean police have reportedly referred the diplomat, Kim Hongkon, who was formerly posted to Wellington to the South Korea prosecutor’s office – an indication charges may follow.
“I look forward to the Korean prosecutors making a request to the New Zealand government for my attendance at the Korean hearings … [to] give evidence. With the right support I will be able to do that,” the complainant told Stuff.
READ MORE:
* Korean police investigate alleged sexual assault by diplomat in NZ
* Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks with Korean president about diplomat charged with sexually assaulting Kiwi staffer
* Attempts to prosecute Korean diplomat for sexual assault stalled, as New Zealand can’t seek extradition
New Zealand police charged Kim, who left New Zealand in 2018, with three counts of indecent assault in February 2020, however Detective Inspector John Van Den Heuvel decided later that year a “higher threshold” to seek extradition from South Korea had not been met.
STUFF
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in July the Government would continue to advocate for South Korea to respect New Zealand law over its attempts to charge a diplomat with indecent assault. (Video first published in 2020)
Then-prime minister Jacinda Ardern also intervened that year, rasing the matter with President Moon Jae-in in a phone call. It was unusual for a prime minister to raise an individual matter involving a citizen during a discussion with another leader.
The complainant said Ardern raising his case with Moon had given him “a lot of strength, to know what happened to me was wrong”.
Supplied
Korean diplomat Kim Hongkon has been charged with three counts of indecent assault.
He provided a document showing South Korean police referring Kim to the prosecutor’s office for on sexual assault charges. Yonhap New Agency reported earlier this week police had made the referral.
The prosecutor’s office has not responded to request for comment, nor did the South Korean Embassy in Wellington did not respond to a request.
The complainant said the South Korean police’s decision showed the New Zealand police was “wrong” to decide not to seek extradition. He wanted an apology.
“Initially police were very supportive, but until Kim returns to New Zealand they don’t seem to care about this case any more.”
A police spokesperson said, in a statement, the police “routinely co-operate with the Korean police in appropriate cases”.
In 2022, police used the New Zealand-Korea extradition treaty to return the woman accused of killing her children who were found at an Auckland home in suitcases.
Asked if police would reconsider requesting Kim be extradited, the spokesperson provided a link to the 2020 statement explaining extradition would not be sought.
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