South Korean police said on Wednesday that they wanted to question the wife of Belgian ambassador Peter Lescouhier after receiving a complaint about an alleged assault by a staff member in a clothing store.
Security camera footage showed a woman beating a shopkeeper who was trying to prevent her from approaching a colleague. The coworker suspected she was trying to leave the store with an item of clothing she hadn’t paid for.
The video of the incident on April 9 appeared on social media this week, prompting an angry response from some South Koreans demanding an apology from the Belgian embassy.
The footage also seemed to show that Xiang Xueqiu spoke to two police officers on the spot. Since then, the police have been unable to contact her because Xiang was in hospital.
Reuters could not identify which hospital and could not immediately reach her for comment on the alleged incident.
“The police sent to the scene identified her as the wife of the Belgian ambassador,” said a police officer at a police station in Yongsan, part of the capital where the embassy and shop are located.
“We’ve been looking for her presence, but as you can see in the local media, she’s not been available since she’s in hospital.”
South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Reuters it had urged the Belgian embassy to cooperate on the case and that it would take appropriate action based on further police investigation.
The Belgian Embassy in Seoul confirmed that Xiang had been hospitalized, but made no further comment. A spokeswoman for the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment.
Some South Koreans expressed frustration at what they believed were unfair privileges for diplomats and their families.
“I believe diplomatic immunity is important and should be respected, but as the incident concerns the ambassador’s family … the ambassador must officially apologize,” Lee Hyun-koo, 32, told Reuters.
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