The firing of the spokesman, Yoon Chang-jung, was announced after Mr. Yoon abruptly broke off from the presidential delegation visiting Washington and returned home earlier this week. South Korean media reported that he left Washington in such a hurry that he did not pack his belongings in his hotel room.
The whereabouts of Mr. Yoon, 56, have not been known since his return home. Lee Nam-ki, Ms. Park’s senior presidential press secretary and Mr. Yoon’s immediate supervisor, said that the spokesman was fired for an “unsavory act that was inappropriate for a high-ranking government official and damaged the national prestige.”
South Korean journalists accompanying Ms. Park on her trip reported that Mr. Yoon was accused of unwanted sexual contact of a young woman hired as an intern at the South Korean Embassy in Washington, and that the incident occurred while he was drinking.