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Foreign ministry in trouble for allegedly lying after embassy attack

April 14, 2015
A flag flies over the Moroccan Embassy after a bomb placed in a garbage bin targeted the site in the capital, Tripoli. in Tripoli, Libya on Monday, April 13, 2015. There were no casualties in the attack, which was claimed by Libya's Islamic State affiliate. (AP Photo/Mohamed Ben Khalifa)

A flag flies over the Moroccan Embassy after a bomb placed in a garbage bin targeted the site in the capital, Tripoli. in Tripoli, Libya on Monday, April 13, 2015. There were no casualties in the attack, which was claimed by Libya’s Islamic State affiliate. (AP Photo/Mohamed Ben Khalifa)

SEOUL, April 14 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s foreign ministry came under criticism Tuesday for allegedly lying about the whereabouts of the country’s ambassador to Libya during a weekend attack on the local embassy.

Hours after the shooting on the embassy in Tripoli on Sunday, the ministry told reporters that Amb. Lee Jong-kook was handling the aftermath of the incident in Tunis, the Tunisian capital.

Amid growing concerns over security conditions in Libya, the ministry has allowed its diplomats to rotate between Tripoli and Tunis every two weeks since July last year.

But it was belatedly found that Lee was in Seoul. He returned to South Korea in early April after wrapping up his tenure in Libya.

His successor, Amb. Kim Young-chae, arrived in Libya on Monday, ministry officials said.

They apologized for what they called a “mistake” largely attributable to a gap between the date of Lee’s departure and that of Kim’s inauguration.

“It seems that we made a mistake since we didn’t have a clear understanding of the situation,” a senior ministry official said.

He stressed that the ministry did not make the incorrect statement intentionally.

Islamic militants opened fire on the guard post of the embassy, killing two local security guards and wounding another. There were no South Korean casualties.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s embassy in Libya was moved to Tunisia earlier in the day, out of security concerns, according to the ministry. A total of 32 South Korean citizens currently reside in Libya, it said.