Chinese diplomat under fire for allegedly refusing drunk-driving test

The Chinese Embassy in Seoul has come under vociferous criticism after an overnight incident in which a Chinese diplomat refused to take a drunk-driving test.

Police stopped a sedan with a license plate for the Chinese Embassy, carrying four people, on a road in western Seoul on Tuesday night and asked the driver to take a breathalyzer test and show identification.

But the driver refused and stayed in the car for more than eight hours with its doors locked.

Driving under the influence of alcohol is a serious crime here and can lead to imprisonment.

"It was our duty, as he appeared to be behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol," a police officer said. "We let him go later on, however, as a counselor from the embassy came to the scene and confirmed their diplomatic status."

Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, diplomats are given safe passage and granted immunity from lawsuits or prosecution in the host country's laws.

"The person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable. He shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention," it also stipulates.

Although the Chinese embassy official managed to avoid a legal measure, he came under strong public criticism, such as on local Web sites.

"Shame on you, Chinese diplomats! You should have provided your ID card and taken the drunken-driving test," said an Internet user in response to an online article on the incident.

South Korea's foreign minister also admonished the Chinese diplomat.

"A diplomat has diplomatic immunity in accordance with the Vienna convention, but the basic thing is to abide by a host country's law," he said at a press briefing.

The Chinese embassy, however, denied the allegations and claimed no problem in the code of conduct in its embassy staff.

"All the diplomats at the Chinese embassy have abided by South Korea's law. Our internal investigation has found that the diplomat did not drive under the influence of alcohol," the embassy's spokesman Chen Junjie told Yonhap News Agency.

He said there was some "misunderstanding" between the diplomat and police due to confusion at the scene, but did not specify what the misunderstanding was.

Seoul, Dec. 13 (Yonhap News)