South Korean diplomat Hongkon Kim may face charges after alleged sexual assault at Wellington embassy

Former deputy ambassador Hongkon Kim is accused of indecent assault at the Wellington Embassy in 2017. Photo / File

A South Korean diplomat accused of sexually abusing a New Zealand staffer at the embassy in Wellington could face charges.

The allegations date to 2017 - and the diplomat, former deputy ambassador Hongkon Kim, left the country the following year.

Kim was accused of groping the male staff member multiple times and in 2020 then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern raised the case with South Korea’s President.

The alleged victim filed a formal complaint with Seoul’s Metropolitan Police Agency last December - after a complaint with New Zealand Police in July 2019 was not progressed.

A warrant for Kim’s arrest was issued by a Wellington District Court judge in late February 2020 on three charges of indecent assault and New Zealand officials sought waivers of diplomatic immunity from the South Korean Government to allow police to conduct evidential inquiries at the South Korean Embassy in Wellington.

NZ police later said they would not seek to extradite the Korean diplomat back to Aotearoa to face charges.

Detective Inspector John Van Den Heuvel earlier said that after “carefully considering the evidence and legal advice” NZ police had concluded that the higher threshold required to initiate extradition proceedings has not been met.

South Korea’s prosecutors’ office has now taken up the complaint.

The complainant has been contacted by South Korean authorities that Kim is facing an investigation, the man told Newstalk ZB.

Kim left New Zealand for a new post in the Philippines in 2018 before NZ police started an investigation. He is currently working at South Korea’s foreign ministry headquarters, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

The complainant told the news agency: “As a direct result of what happened in my workplace, I am continuing to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite the trauma, I am ready to appear as a witness and give evidence in Korean courts and I hope the court process can be completed quickly.”