A couple of weeks ago The Korea Herald (it was also blogged on Marmots) ran an article on the alleged shoplifting incident by a high ranking Philippine diplomat - an incident that USFK, and the American embassy refused to deny or confirm, but the Philippine embassy denounced as completely “unfounded.” When the Philippine media picked up the story in Manila, it became an event that could not be ignored and investigations were conducted.
“A Filipino diplomat, who asked not to be named, said the report (in The Korea Herald) was ‘fabricated’ and was part of a campaign to put the Philippine Embassy and officials of the diplomatic mission in a bad light.”
Yet, just a day later, a press release was issued to the Philippine media in which Philippine Ambassador to Korea, Susan Castrence, admitted that in November of last year, she had been stopped by the military authorities for suspicion of shoplifting.
When she returned to the embassy she kept the event secret from even her own staff - including her press secretary.
In an interview with members of The Korea Herald, the ambassador explained the events leading up to and following the initial article and why she did not notify her own staff of the events:
“Well, it was such an unpleasant experience to have been mistaken for doing something like that. I am a very private person,” she said. “Because that case as far as I know is closed, so what is the purpose for me to even talk about something that was very unpleasant?”
An editor with The Korea Herald pointed out that she, as a former spokesman for the Philippine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, should have known better than to try and keep this from her own staff. He explained that he thought the entire manner was handled in a shoddy and unprofessional manner to which the ambassador replied: “That is your opinion. We thought we were doing the right thing.”
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I feel undernourished, here. The fact that she hid the incident leads me to believe she is a credibility vacuum. Is the USFK in agreement with her, (mistaken identity), or are they keeping quiet to avoid an incident or is it an ongoing investigation? It seems unlikely that they would MISTAKE her for a thief. I worked in loss prevention at a big electronics store and we never made a move without certainty.
This ending is underwhelming.
That electronics store was probably not in Korea. In this crazy country they often make moves without certainty in a whole host of issues including foreign policy.
Whatever the true story here is, I find it ironic that a member of the korean media had the balls to say this was “handled in a shoddy and unprofessional manner.”
USFK has been very consistent in not making public the specifics in regards to investigations of any kind, let alone those political in nature. The apparent “news” that the Korean Herald editor wrote of is almost certainly a very rough sketch filled in with a generous measure of artistic license. Even more certain is that what was written does not match up to what really happened. Then again, you might say that for each and every article in media picked up on street corners here every morning. With the possible exception of sports box scores…
Further, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Korean media outlet show interest in the abnormally large amounts of centrum and spam that are sold on base or the monopoly on the use of base slot machines by “non-military” folks. Foreigner investigated for shoplifting without charges being levied = big deal. Blackmarketing and gambling by locals,including assemblymen and general officers = no problem.
For those interested - I thought I would post the link to the latest article about this incident.
https://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2007/07/07/200707070003.asp
Reportedly one of the Philippine journalist/activist who spends half his time in Korea and the other half back home has interviewed some of the people involved with the incident.
“According to Mark Padlan, a journalist and Kasammako executive committee member who is currently in Manila, the manager of the PX, knowing that Castrence is a diplomat, approached her in a bid to resolve the matter discreetly so as to avoid any embarrassment.
“In response,” the press release said, “Castrence told the manager she wanted to smoke a cigarette first before they talk. In the act of taking and lighting the cigarette out of her bag, she dropped the stolen items and kicked them back inside the PX shop. She then tried to deny any wrongdoing.’”
Thanks for thupdating this story, as well as the earlier ones.
Zero news coverage back here in CONUS that I’ve seen on cable TV; I suppose it could have been a buried story in a wire service or NYT edition and I wouldn’t have seen it.
Are all the Filipino diplomats still persona non grata at the PX?
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