S. Korean consul general in China summoned home over opaque accounting

SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Yonhap) -- A senior South Korean diplomat in China has been called home from China for opaque accounting practices at his office, officials said Thursday, as the foreign ministry declares a zero-tolerance policy on lapses in discipline among diplomats. The consul general in China's central city of Wuhan, whose name was withheld, has been criticized for inappropriate accounting when he bought a new residence last year, although he didn't embezzle taxpayers' money, according to the ministry. "Our internal audit found that the consul general opaquely conducted his office's financial affairs when he purchased a new residence," a ministry official said on the condition of anonymity. "The consul general was referred to a central disciplinary committee." The summons came after Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said that there will be no leniency if diplomats misbehave amid allegations of a stock-rigging scandal involving diplomats linked to CNK International, a local company developing a diamond mine in Cameroon. The ministry has been rocked by the scandal after state auditors last week asked it to sack a senior diplomat for playing a role in releasing a fallacious official press statement in December 2010. State auditors accused the senior diplomat, Ambassador Kim Eun-seok, who was in charge of energy and resources, of having encouraged his relatives to purchase CNK shares before the ministry's press statement was released. (END)