South Korea’s consul normal in New York has provided to step down amid rising criticism from the opposition get together in Seoul over his private ties to first woman Kim Keon Hee.
In an announcement launched to media on Wednesday (New York time), Kim Euy-whan stated he had already submitted his resignation to the international ministry on Oct. 26, following the parliamentary audit the place he got here underneath intense scrutiny from opposition get together lawmakers.
Kim denied that his connection to the primary woman was the rationale for his appointment because the consul normal, claiming that he has no cause to apologize for the “groundless political assault” and “false propaganda” by the principle opposition Democratic Get together (DP).
“I had not reacted to the DP’s malicious assaults as a result of it was simply not price it,” Kim stated within the assertion. “But when this continues, it will likely be a burden for not solely the international ministry however the authorities.”
“I’ve concluded that I can now not function the consul normal as a result of DP’s groundless political assault … After studying the DP’s fictitious story … I believed it was so typical of the DP habitually spreading false propaganda,” Kim stated.
A international ministry official in Seoul declined to substantiate Kim’s resignation, citing personnel insurance policies.
The DP has accused Kim of being appointed to the consul normal place because of his private ties to the primary woman, which date again greater than a decade.
Within the audit, Rep. Han Jeoung-ae of the DP claimed Kim grew to become acquainted with the primary woman by way of a personal discussion board round 2010, when she was the pinnacle of a cultural content material firm, and that connection obtained him the job because the consul normal.
The consul normal was additionally on the heart of controversy earlier this 12 months after he publicly lashed out at a speech delivered on behalf of the pinnacle of the state-funded group for independence fighters at an occasion in New York.
The speech was about criticizing the historic view of the brand new chief of the nationwide historical past museum on independence fighters that South Korea ought to acknowledge Aug. 15, 1948 — when the federal government of the primary President Rhee Syng-man was launched — because the nationwide basis day, as an alternative of April 11, 1919.
The query of when South Korea got here into being has lengthy been a topic of ideological debate, with some arguing it was April 11, 1919, when a provisional authorities was established throughout Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.
On the New York occasion, Kim decried the speech as “nonsense” and known as to “crush the pro-North Korean leftist forces” within the South.
Kim was appointed because the consul normal in December 2022. Previous to the present submit, Kim spent most of his profession in public service, having served in senior positions on the nation’s anti-corruption and civil rights fee.
