It’s been confirmed that Kim Ghee-whan, Consul General of the Republic of Korea in New York, is being investigated for allegedly having used government money to pay personal expenses and bossed around consulate staff.
Consul General Kim is also under suspicion of having received free flight upgrades from Asiana Airlines, South Korea's second-largest airline. As a result, some point out that the practice of offering special favors to high-ranking officials in the form of free seat upgrades hasn’t changed a bit since the so-called nut rage scandal which saw top Korean Air executive Cho Hyun-ah jailed.
Since he took office as Consul General in April 2015, Kim has reportedly abused administrative staff verbally in an attempt to dig up some dirt on corrupt staff members, according to the Secret of Korea, a blog run by a Korean American journalist, and the JoongAng Ilbo. To make matters worse, his wife is alleged to have ordered around consulate staff.
However, Kim reportedly bent over backwards to take good care of his health and family. According to the reports, citing that gas cooking might raise the risk of lung cancer, Kim replaced a well-functioning gas oven with a $4,000 induction cooktop.
Kim also demanded a high-end smartphone and a tablet computer. As the consulate’s procurement officer balked at his request for such expensive devices due to security concerns and budget constraints, he allegedly took retaliatory personnel action against the officer.
The laptop computer Kim purchased for his business trip is allegedly being used for his wife indulging in her favorite pastime: watching Korean soap operas.
In July 2015, he invited his father in law and other relatives and threw a private party, which cost 1,447 dollars. Kim allegedly ordered consulate staff to turn to the coffers of the consulate to pay for the party.
In a phone call interview with The Korea IT Times, the Audit ad Inspection Office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of S. Korea admitted to probing into those allegations leveled against Kim. However, the Audit ad Inspection Office repeatedly said: “We cannot confirm anything about the allegations.”
It is also suspected that Kim got free upgrades to business class or first class from Asiana Airlines.
Asiana Airlines said: “Since it is related to customer information, we cannot reveal the record.” If it turned out to be true, MOFA officials could be put in the hot seat this time just like officials of the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs came under fire for free flight upgrades from the nations’ top airline, Korean Air, in the aftermath of the nut rage incident.
