A senior diplomat who remains bedridden after suffering a stroke during a 2018 multilateral summit in Singapore has been relieved of duty, as her extended leave of absence has expired, the foreign ministry said Friday.
Kim Eun-young, former director-general for South Asian and Pacific affairs, collapsed with a brain hemorrhage while accompanying then President Moon Jae-in on the trip for the summit involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in November 2018.
The incident was widely reported in media, with Moon wishing for her recovery.
Kim underwent emergency surgery in Singapore before being transported back home on an air ambulance. Kim has not recovered since.
The foreign ministry said Friday that Kim has been dismissed as the maximum two-year extension period of her medical leave expired at the end of January this year.
Under the State Public Officials Act, individuals working in the public service can take a leave of absence for up to three years for health reasons and extend it f
or another two years.
“We looked for as many alternatives as possible with relevant agencies, including an early retirement, but the dismissal became inevitable under the current law,” a foreign ministry official told reporters.
The official said there were no legal provisions that could allow for exceptions.
The early retirement option was not workable either because it requires the applicant to express his or her intention to do so, which Kim is not physically capable of.
Kim is said to have regained consciousness but be unable to communicate.
In support of Kim and her family, the ministry has organized a fundraising drive to help with medical and other expenses.
President Yoon Suk Yeol has also delivered consolation money and a letter to Kim’s family, the ministry said. Kim’s husband, also a diplomat, is serving as an ambassador to a European country.
In April, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and two vice ministers paid a visit to the hospital where Kim was being treated.
Source: Yonhap News Agency