The recent incident in which the wife of the Belgian ambassador to Korea slapped a sales clerk at a Korean clothing store sparked the anger of the Korean people. Some people came to hold a demonstration in front of the Belgian Embassy in Korea on Itaewon Road in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. It is reported that the wife of the Belgian ambassador to Korea is a Chinese-American Sang Seol-qiu, who was born in Beijing, China in 1958 and met her husband, Belgian ambassador Peter Lescouy, in China.
South Korea’s MBC TV recently reported publicly that on the 9th of this month, the wife of the Belgian ambassador to Korea, Sang Seol-qiu, went to a clothing store in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.
At that time, the ambassador’s wife did not buy any goods and left. The ambassador’s wife was wearing the same style of clothes that were sold in the store, so a sales clerk wearing a pink dress misunderstood that she left without checking out and went after her to confirm.
After learning that it was a misunderstanding, the clerk immediately apologized to the ambassador’s wife and returned inside the store, not realizing that the ambassador’s wife came back after her and brutalized the clerk.
From the surveillance video, it was seen that Aio Seol-qiu pushed and shoved the clerk, and other clerks went up to dissuade her but to no avail. Akiyuki kept pointing at the clerk with her hands and eventually raised her arm and slapped the clerk.
The shopkeeper’s cheek was so red and swollen that she immediately called the police.
The Belgian ambassador’s wife in Korea slapped the clothing store clerk sparking outrage from the South Korean public and the ambassador’s wife was revealed to be of Chinese descent. (Screenshot of surveillance video)
The police arrived at the scene and confirmed the situation, got hold of the content of the surveillance video and handed over the relevant content to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The beaten sales clerk told the police, “The ambassador’s wife did not come in for a quick stroll and leave, but stayed in the store for about an hour and tried on several pieces of clothing. Some of the clothes were tried on in dead-end areas such as pillars, so the store clerk was not able to fully confirm all the items she tried on.”
“Because there have been cases where customers have forgotten the clothes they were trying on and left the store, I chased them down to make sure.” The clerk explained. In addition to the pink-clad clerk, the ambassador’s wife hit other clerks during the pushing and shoving with the clerk.
Because according to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, diplomats and their families are granted privileges such as the privilege of physical non-aggression from arrest or detention and criminal jurisdiction.
However, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided that it would file a formal protest against the Belgian Embassy, demanding that similar incidents be prevented from happening again. In response, the Belgian Embassy told the media, “There is nothing in particular to say.”
Recently, a Korean citizens’ group held a demonstration in front of the Belgian Embassy in Korea on Itaewon Road, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The spokesperson of the citizens’ group said, “The Belgian Embassy has not only failed to express regret, but also failed to make a formal apology” and “will send a letter to the Belgian Prime Minister requesting a summons.”
It is reported that Xiang Xueqiu, who was born in Beijing, China in 1958, met her husband, Belgian Ambassador Peter Lescouy, in China.
Peter Lescouy served in China, Kosovo, Hungary and the European Union before taking up his post as Belgian ambassador to Korea. Xueqiu was an expert in Taoist health exercises and taught taijiquan in her husband’s posting.
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