Diplomatic Blunder

[Anchor Lead]

The Foreign Ministry has been under fire lately for diplomatic blunders such as incorrectly spelling another country's name. In a latest incident, a crumpled Korean flag appeared during an official ministry event.

[Pkg]

The vice foreign ministers of South Korea and Spain shake hands with bright smiles. They held talks to discuss advancing bilateral relations ahead of the 70th anniversary of the two countries' diplomatic relationship. But in the backdrop, we cannot help but notice the Korean flag in a rather embarrassing condition. Clearly, the flag had been folded up prior to the occasion, rushed to be put up with the wrinkles all too visible. Under the directives related to flag hoisting, a damaged flag cannot be used and if the flag is crumpled, it must be ironed out. A foreign ministry official promised to take adequate steps saying the ministry feels great responsibility for failing to correct the mistake in a timely manner. Also last month, the ministry mistakenly indicated Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia as Balkan nations, instead of Baltic countries in an English press release. The error was fixed only after it was pointed out by the Latvian embassy. Last November, the ministry erroneously wrote Czechoslovakia instead of the Czech Republic.

[Soundbite] Kim In-cheol(Spokesman, Ministry of Foreign Affairs) : "We are inspecting and improving related systems on ministry affairs and will take action against incidents that occurred due to lack of responsibility and expertise."

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha held a staff meeting and called for stricter work discipline stressing there is absolutely no room for error in diplomatic affairs. But around the time of this very meeting, the crumpled flag incident occurred. The ministry's auditing office is looking into the recent controversies including the showcase of the sloppy flag.