South Korean Ambassador to Australia Lee Jong-seop arrives back home through Incheon International Airport on the morning of Nov. 21. Park Jun-cheol

Korea’s Ambassador to Australia Lee Jong-sup, a key suspect in the investigation into the death of Marine Corporal Chae Su-geun, returned home to Korea on March 21. It is said that he temporarily returned to attend a meeting on defense and industrial cooperation next week. It was 11 days after he arrived in Australia to take office with just a copy of the president's credentials as if he was being chased. At Incheon International Airport, he said defense cooperation between Australia and Korea and preparations for the 2+2 ministerial meeting on foreign affairs and defense were "important duties that I have to serve as ambassador to Australia," and added he would "live up to those duties." He made it clear that he would not resign voluntarily.
The detailed schedule of the meeting that Lee will attend from the 25th, has not yet been disclosed. There is a strong suspicion that the government hastened to create an excuse for his return. In any case, he was scheduled to attend a meeting of mission chiefs hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in late April. The meeting on defense and industrial cooperation can be held then, and it used to be like that in the past. But calling him back to the country as if an emergency meeting had been scheduled seems to have been a way to put out the biggest fire at a time when the ruling party is also calling for Lee to resign. The ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Qatar, and Poland, who were notified to attend the meeting, unwittingly came to serve as a foil.

Such an unreasonable measure also puts a burden on the government's diplomacy. It goes without saying that it is disrespectful to Australia that the extraordinary ambassador appointed by the president returns home only a few days after he took office. Since Lee came back to Korea without setting a date for his return to Australia, there will be a huge vacuum in his ambassadorial duties. Korea and Australia have a lot to share with each other and it is important for the two countries to communicate and cooperate closely. Australia actively participated in U.S.-led strategy to check against China during the conservative government, but is seeking to change its policy toward China after a regime change to the Labor Party in 2022. Recently, when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Australia for the first time in seven years, Australia did not send a minister to the Democracy Summit in Seoul which was held during the same period. In such a tense international situation, how can Lee properly respond as an ambassador?

In the process of the government's political handling of the incident arising from the tragic death of the marine corporal, diplomacy has been completely reduced to a means of domestic politics. Nothing is normal from the appointment as an ambassador to summoning. This is similar to the case of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s state visit to Germany last month, which was abruptly canceled four days before it
was due to take place. Yoon should replace the ambassador even now. Leaving the seat of the ambassador to Australia vacant would be a loss in the short term but appointing a new ambassador to work properly would also benefit the relations between Korea and Australia in the long run. In addition, I hope that the government will no longer sacrifice diplomacy for domestic political maneuvering.