[Video] Slapping and Punching... Controversy Over CCTV Showing Assault by Belgian Ambassador's Wife

Mrs. A, the wife of the Belgian ambassador to Korea, is seen slapping the cheek of a clothing store employee. Photo by MBC Broadcast Screen Capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] It has been confirmed that the wife of the Belgian ambassador to Korea, who caused controversy by slapping an employee at a clothing store in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, also assaulted another employee. The employee who was slapped suffered an injury severe enough to burst a blood vessel in the left eye but has reportedly not yet received an apology.

On the 20th, CCTV footage inside the store released by MBC and others showed Ms. A, the wife of Peter Lescouhier, the Belgian ambassador to Korea, pointing fingers and protesting at an employee in a clothing store in Yongsan-gu, then hitting the back of the employee’s head and slapping their cheek.

Source=CCTV footage provided by the victim (Captured from MBC broadcast)

At the time, Ms. A visited the store wearing the same clothes that were being sold there. After trying on other displayed clothes, she left the store without making a purchase.

One employee, seeing this, misunderstood that Ms. A had left without paying for the clothes. The employee followed Ms. A to confirm whether a purchase was made. After confirming that the clothes she was wearing were not store products, the employee apologized to Ms. A and returned to the store.

However, about two minutes later, Ms. A returned to the store and hit the employee on the back of the head. Another employee who tried to stop Ms. A was also hit on the left cheek, which became visibly red and swollen. However, it is reported that the victims have not yet received an apology from Ms. A.

Meanwhile, under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, diplomatic envoys and their families dispatched to our country are granted immunity, so the case is likely to be closed as 'no prosecution.'

The police plan to conduct an investigation of the Belgian ambassador’s wife after completing the usual investigative procedures with the injured employees.