The Korea Times’ headline piece (at least on their website) breaks the earth-shaking revelation that U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow’s wife Lisa has apparently violated Korean law by peddling her costume jewelry at a gallery. Not having established a business here in Korea and obtained a taxpayer identification number, Lisa Vershbow is now an “illegal worker.” Give us a break! Slow news day?
Mrs. Vershbow, it’s a real easy fix. Give me a call and we’ll walk you through it. You will need to register as a foreign investor under the Foreign Investment Promotion Act, obtain a taxpayer ID number, and then apply for an endorsement to your diplomatic visa allowing you to operate your new business. You may have to pay a small fine for your past violation. And that’s that.
The Korea Times, however, in its eagerness to break a story, misses one key point when it asks “what difference there is between Mrs. Vershbow and anyone else who comes to Korea and earns money without the government’s authorization?” The answer to that is simple: Diplomatic immunity. Mrs. Vershbow cannot be punished for this violation, just as she couldn’t be punished for unpaid parking tickets or for running someone over with her car. (Although she could in theory be expelled.)
Mrs. Vershbow raises another issue at the end of the Korea Times story. Korea does not permit spouses of legitimate visa holders — diplomats and foreign investors alike — to work except by separate permission. For the self-employed, who must qualify themselves as “foreign investors” under the Foreign Investment Promotion Act, which requires bringing in W50,000,000 “investment capital” (although they don’t have to formally incorporate but can operate as a sole proprietorship), this is unduly burdensome. But it is the law.
As for my fees, some of it we’ll take in trade. You could give us some of that costume jewelry, or perhaps you could get Mr. Vershbow to agree not to play his drums at some future public function.
51 Comments
If she prostituted she would be immune? And the way you took advantage of the term “illegal worker” in this case which shouldn’t been labeled.
I don’t know what you’re getting at. In the photo she’s a nice looking woman but come on now, she’s the ambassador’s wife!
Now, now Brendon, the man has asked you a question. If the ambassadors wife was prostituted, would she be booked for a 588 violation?
Frankly speaking, there are too many aspects of Korean law which are either onerous, poorly defined (trademarking, IP, etc.) or just plain lacking (laws regulating or enforcing sticking up signs, banners, stickers, etc. etc. ad nauseum).
Before the Korea Times tries to bust the U.S. ambassador’s wife, they ought to take a good look at their own house because it is in far worse shape.
To my understanding, diplomatic immunity means complete immunity from prosecution for any and all crimes — no matter how ridiculous the proposal — whether committed negligently or intentionally. (At least, it does on Law & Order.) The official-duty test is only applicable to the Status of Forces Agreement. I’m not, however, an expert on diplomatic status although I do know a heck of a lot about the SOFA, Korean employment law, and about registering one’s business in order to be able to obtain a work visa.
They’re too busy looking at naughty pictures to be considering their own actions
I dislike this concept. The way I see it: You break the law, you pay the penalty if caught. This concept is just another ugly aspect of the class system.
“The way I see it: You break the law, you pay the penalty if caught.”
This makes plenty of sense.
“This concept is just another ugly aspect of the class system.”
Extremely small class in this case. How many people qualify for diplomatic immunity (not many, hopefully)?
Yep… It’s a very very small class. You basically have to be an accredited diplomatic agent or else an immediate family member to qualify under the Vienna Convention. And in effect, it doesn’t give an absolute license to commit murder, since a country can waive diplomatic immunity (or prosecute a diplomat under its own laws). And yes, if an ambassador’s wife were to be a prostitute (or even to run a slavery and prostitution ring) they would be immune from criminal prosecution, although I would think in that case that the shitstorm the host country raised diplomatically would go a long way in convincing the sending country to waive immunity in that case.
The wife of the ambassador of the most powerful nation in the free world is peddling jewelry in a Korean shopping mall? If there was a picture, the caption should read “Got Dignity?”
How is this not news?
It was a gallery rather than a shopping mall. I’ve been led to believe that one is a much more dignified place than the other in which to have one’s jewelery peddled.
Acually, rather than a work permit, wouldn’t she need an import license? Since she works and produces her bling bling in the US of A [the Embassy, the residence etc are US territory], wouldn’t she need to clear the goods through customs in order to sell them in SOuth Korea?
Just an idle thought.
bluejives, did you even read the linked article? The gallery is identified as “the Sun Gallery in the fashionable art district of Insa-dong.” As I recall, Insa-dong is hardly an area of Korean shopping malls. Not quite the picture you’re painting with your comment.
I imagine the whole episode is embarrassing for the Vershbows. However, if we want to talk about abuses of diplomatic immunity, there are far, far better places to start, such as the 18 million dollars of unpaid parking tickets owed to New York City by various missions to the United Nations.
-Tony
Interesting question… Since technically, the galleries sold the jewelery rather than Ms. Vershbow, wouldn’t she merely be an importer?
Of course, this tends to run into the general prohibition on such things as found in the Vienna Convention, article 41:
So is operating a private enterprise on mission premesis even allowed under the international agreements that govern this sort of thing? Who knew that making and marketing ugly plastic jewelery could have the potential for such a profound affect on international relations?
The article did give her a chance to speak for herself, and she’s ready to put things right:
She’s not leaving anything for Koreans to complain about, if they have a sensible bone in their body.
She’s not leaving anything for Koreans to complain about, if they have a sensible bone in their body.
Mr richardson, are you making threats on her behalf or on behalf of u.s gov’t ?
I’m sorry. I swear I just read something about the US ambassador’s wife in Korea was busted for selling costume jewlery. Dam, I have to get my eyes checked. Could someone please tell me what the article is really about?
“Korea does not permit spouses of legitimate visa holders — diplomats and foreign investors alike — to work except by separate permission.”
It’s the same law in the US.
Maybe the cost of living in Korea nowadays is so high that a GS-50 or whatever grade income doesn’t cut it anymore.
It would be far more interesting if the wife of an ambassador, or even the ambassador himself, was busted for selling fake Swiss watches with names like Vincent & Co.
Mr. Carr and Mr. Marmot are now the story:
“Writing to [sic] the Marmot’s Hole, a popular blog on Korean politics and social phenomenon, Brendan Carr, a well-known legal consultant in Seoul, appealed to Mrs. Vershbow to call him if she wanted to straighten out the matter efficiently.”
http://times.hankooki.com/lpag.....810440.htm
Don’t let a mention in this esteemed daily go to your heads now!
Those idiot reporters at the Korea Times ought to have recognized the difference between an appeal for the woman to call me and a bit of fun. At the very least they could have called me for a quote. Good grief. This is probably not going to be so much fun anymore. Besides that, for what am I well-known? (Besides this kind of thing.) I’d hope it would be something like foreign investment, employment-law advice, or avenger of the defrauded. But it could be for something else. Maybe “handsomest” foreign lawyer in town. Now that Dean Fealk left it could be me. The level of competition in that regard is also somewhat lower than one would expect.
I’m kind of surprised that the Embassy wasn’t on top of the legal picture with this work/business and visa status issue. Now they’ve embarrassed their boss and his wife with a throw-away “It’s okay” answer. Neither Vershbow nor his wife has yet called me, by the way. But they don’t need any help: According to the story they had already applied for the relevant visa endorsement on the 14th — before the Korea Times story was published yesterday. This, too, is something that responsible journalistic practice (such as checking with the Foreign Ministry, or calling the Embassy for comment) would have sussed out before they ran the story.
OK, I have to ‘fess up. I told one of the editors at TKT about Brendon’s column here at the Marmot. Later the editor called and asked me how Brendon should be described. I exercised a little self-censorhip - in the interest of preserving Brendon’s reputation and not running afoul of the Korean slander and libel laws (under which truth is not a defense) - by limiting my suggested tag to “well-known” (leaving it to the readers’ imagination to fill in the blank after what for?.
P.S. Brendon, they think the whole affair is funny too and are keeping it going for the amusement value.
LOL It has to be the most poorly written and edited newspaper in the English language–you expect them to understand sarcasm?
Brendon:
PS Where are you? Call or email me privately.
It is important to remember that with diplomatic immunity one is only immune from prosecution. It doesn’t give licence to break any law at all. As mentioned before it can be waived and has on many occasions.
Mrs. Vershbow has violated korean law. No, she won’t be prosecuted for it, but yes, she has violated Korean law and of course this is newsworthy and in the public interest.
The shocked with a capital “S” quote is akin to what foreigners here all over the world alike refer to as the “but I’m just a stupid foreigner card” (picture shrugged shoulders and astonished look of innocence on face). It works plenty.
And then I spell language wrong….
Nobonpil, ignorance is no excuse, granted–but it’s not like she was peddling crack, it’s just a silly story for the front page.
Michael, this is Korea. Mrs. V is the US Ambassador’s wife. However sad you feel the story is; it’s front page news here. Wouldn’t expect anything less.
Lucky for Brenden it was Sperwer who described him. Had it been Bluejives the Korea Times article might have read:
As for diplomatic immunity, I’m all for it, even when it’s abused. If it weren’t recognized we’d see all sorts of diplomats thrown into the can on trumped up charges, and the ensuing tit-for-tat amongst nations would only highten tensions in an already overly prickly world.
And speaking of prickly it’ll be fun to see both Koreas’ reaction to Japan’s economic sanctions imposed on the Norks. One hopes that the Japanese follow up by testing one of its newly christened Hideyoshi-class missles over the North with a slash down in the West Sea.
Er, Brendon, you’re wrong. She doesn’t have immunnity. According to the whatever convention it is, said immunity covers diplomats engaging in activities in the course of their duty.
Mrs. V is a nice lady and fortunately we are in the Land of the Bended Law, so she’s in the clear.
“Hideyoshi Class”? I think they’ll need to rechristen any headed in that direction after Konishi Yukinaga. It was he, I believe, who actually led the Japanese contingent that reached, conquered and occupied Pyongyang, then so decisively defeated a Chinese Korean army that outnumbered his Kyushu warriors 4-1 when they tried to recapture it that the Chinese commander offered the Japanese, whose provisions were then exhausted and defenses so ruined, safe passage if they would withdraw without a further fight.
Ohmyblog, you may want to check out this chart. Looks like Mrs. Vershbow can only be issued a traffic ticket.
Sperwer, interesting info, but Hideyoshi-class is so much more emotionally charged.
Heh… that’s cute, the “Whatever Convention”. Actually, if you had read the ‘whatever convention’ down a bit, you would see that immediate family of diplimatic agents are afforded the same legal protections as the diplomats themselves. Now, why they had to include that as a separate article is just an example of sloppy draftsmanship, but it’s there… in Article something-or-other. And it’s not just official duties, either… The convention explicitly states, “the person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable.” Which basically means that absent express permission from the sending state, from the time he enters the receiving state to the time he leavs or is protection is removed, the diplomatic agent (and family) simply cannot be arrested, fined, or otherwise inconvenienced by local police, and the receiving country has a duty to make sure nothing unpleasant happens to him (or her). You’re probably getting the ‘course of duties’ language from the bit on embassy staff, or else the bit on diplomatic agents who happen to be nationals of the state in which they are stationed.
Now, with all that said, it also bears mentioning that the whatever convention does obligate diplomats to observe the laws of their receiving states, even though they enjoy immunity, but as we’ve seen in this case (and in the UN parking ticket one), that doesn’t always happen in practice.
This illegal jewelry selling news would be nothing compared to the uproar caused by the headlines maybe a few months from now about a certain narcisstic and slightly cocky legal eagle based in Korea busted for porking the neglected wife of a prominent ambassador based in Korea. We need more stupid foreigner tricks to liven things up.
Soldout and Zonath,
Perhaps I should have read the whatever convention. But mouthing off is an imperfect art.. My understanding from dips is that they are not immune if they commit crimes outside the course of duty. For example, if the parents of the two freezer babies were dips, they could have been arrested. Am I wrong? Would the French govt have to say OK?
If the French gov. decided to waive their immunity, for which there would be huge outcry for them to do, then yes they could be arrested.
You’re on the front page of the Korean times today.
The US embassy “will send the appropriate documents to the appropriate Korean Government officials”
I like the letters page about the peeved american who was held in cells for two days by immigration for working on an E2 student visa. double standards eh.
Since we’re mentioning the French, parking tickets and immunity, when the old French Cultural Centre was in Kwanghwamun, where the Polish Embassy is now, most [French] embassy employees would park their cars in front of the building, on the very wide pavement – where parking was strictly forbidden… because it was an Embassy! Which is ridiculous, of course, since the vehicles had diplo and semi-diplo plates anyway, starting with 003 [France]. So they got parking tickets. Every day. And one day [in 1998 if memory serves] there was an article in one of the English-language pamphlets, according to which France – among other countries – never paid their traffic fines. Well duh…
France would have had to waive their diplomatic immunity in order for the freezer baby parents to have even been arrested by the police, much less prosecuted. And if the police had wanted to question one of them, they would have had to have been very careful not to do anything that might be considered ‘detention’ (like getting in their way if they wanted to walk away).
Heck, you can’t even sue a diplomatic agent in the country in which they are stationed, except under some very small exceptions. So, if Lisa Vershbow was driving drunk down the streets of Seoul, and crashed into your house, killing your dog, your cat, and your favorite houseplant, you couldn’t bring a civil case against her in a South Korean court. So basically, you would have to plead your case in a court in the United States. (Of course, under such circumstances, the US government would probably settle the case on her behalf just to try and avoid the shitstorm…) It must be fun being a diplomat.
So this is why diplomats’ cars have special plates (in almost any country, it would seem, including in my local province here in Canada)? It means, “Unticketable”?
…Even though New York and Seoul, apparently, do go ahead and ticket said cars, apparently to no avail….
Well… The diplomats could decide to pay their parking tickets anyhow. Not that that’s likely at all to happen.
Front page of the Korean Times again this morning!
“Some internet users sympathised with her” ? really?
Actually, some of the military personnel assigned to JUSMAG-K on Yongsan Army
Garrison also are issued the “embassy vehicle tags” and, as I understand it also enjoy diplomatic status and live in the Embassy housing area on Yongsan Army Garrision. I’m not sure the reference about the Embassy, “the residence etc are US territory” posted earlier is correct.
I guess the answer lies in the definition of territory.
Ok - will someone please explain to me how it is that the American Military are allowed such privileges? The land that they occupy in Seoul is prime realestate yet to my understanding the US government doesn’t pay the Korean government a single cent for occupying this space.
I am apalled at the way some of these GIs speak to the local people and in the Confucian mindset of Koreans, to speak to an elder in this fashion is particularly unacceptable. They live seemingly free in Korea; the least these invaders could do is respect the culture.
I’m sorry, I think you’re looking for the KCNA.
Dear Pseudo-Korea-file Koehler,
You clearly misinterpret my protestations as Communist rants. Please withdraw your insulting insinuations. I speak proudly as Korean who can trace their ancestry back 17 generations, NOT as a bigot on either the Communist’s side or as a extreme right-wing American (dare I assume as you may be?).
Nope. Stupid comments earn stupid responses.
Congratulations. What do you want, a cookie?
Whatever you say, tough guy.
Dear Happy-snapping-tourist-cum-expert-on-matters-that-are-deemed “stupid”,
Tell me what makes you such an expert in Korean Cultural Identity, mate? So you go around to a temple or two and take pictures… who’s after a cookie, here?
Nothing. Never said I was. All I said was your comment was stupid. And your subsequent comments have simply reinforced my initial view.
That would be you, Mr. “I speak proudly as Korean who can trace their ancestry back 17 generations.”
Look, I’m sorry that some English hagwon turned you down for a job because you’re ethnic Korean, or that your girlfriend dumped you for a white guy, or some Korean gave you shit because your spoken Korean is funny from spending so many years abroad. But I’ve got enough angry people who can’t rationally argue a point hanging around this blog, both Korean and non-Korean. I don’t need another.
Have a good one. Mate.
“I am apalled at the way some of these GIs speak to the local people and in the Confucian mindset of Koreans, to speak to an elder in this fashion is particularly unacceptable”.
Which group is best at relating to the Confucian Korean mindset?
Sounds like another historical article coming out soon - the French and the Americans argued this same thing nearly 110 years ago. Only it involved servants working for them. Come to think of it there were many such instances of claims for diplomatic immunity - wasn’t called that back then. If you remember right, Bethell tried to protect his newspaper’s editor by hiding him in his (Bethell’s) home and sending up the British Ensign claiming his house was protected under British law - of course the British consul didn’t agree. Sounds like an interesting article.
As for Gwangsan and the Marmot - one of the great things about owning your own Blog - you decide what is and isn’t stupid. Frankly - I fully agree with Marmot.
You are mixing issues - telling half-truths and overly-generalizing. I am always amazed at real estate - no matter where it is in Korea - is considered prime when it involves the military. Speaking bluntly to elderly people is truly something that only American military do to the Korean people - right saam? —oops shouldn’t have used that saam - that is only open for young Korean people to use as a blunt form - even to the teachers. I am sure that Korean TV gives us more than enough examples of improper Korean being used by the young to their elders and seniors. Did you ever think that maybe the reason why the GIs are using the improper phrases are because those are the phrases they learned from their Korean friends? When I went to DLI - our books all had 한국분 and 미국인 in them - when we switched the nouns around to 한국인 and 미국분 we were yelled at by our Korean instructors for being disrespectful…..hmmm.
“Invaders into Korea” - do we need to go there? Free-living? Ask a GI if he feels like he is living the “free life” in Korea - I am fairly sure that many of them wouldn’t agree with you.
You further attack the Marmot with your “So you go around to a temple or two and take pictures… who’s after a cookie, here?” He naturally, and rightfully, came back by quoting your “I speak proudly as Korean who can trace their ancestry back 17 generations.” Who cares how many generations you can trace your ancestry back - does that make you a better Korean than someone who can only trace theirs back four generations? Lets go further - anyone who can not trace their ancestry back to the establishment of the United States is not as American as someone who arrived in 1901 or perhaps ten years ago - is that what you are saying?
Patriotism isn’t automatically instilled into a person because they were born in that country - otherwise all of these women having babies in the United States (not just Korean - but from all nationalities) would have children that were all furiously patriotic to the United States. We all know that is not true. Just remember - most of the Koreans who were Japanese sympathizers who supported Japan’s annexation of Korea could probably have traced their ancestory back more than five or ten generations too.
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