Sexual misconduct accounted for more than half of dismissals from South Korea’s state-run international development aid agency's overseas programs over the past five years, data showed Thursday.
According to data the Korea International Cooperation Agency submitted to Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Lee Ki-heon, 15 volunteers were stripped of their status for violations of service rules between January 2022 and August this year. Eight of them were dismissed for sexual misconduct.
Of the eight volunteers dismissed for sexual misconduct, six had been working in education-related roles, including Korean-language, computer and general education, according to the data. Three had previously served in KOICA's overseas volunteer program.
Four volunteers were dismissed for sexual misconduct in 2023, two in 2025 and two this year. Other reasons for stripping volunteers of their status included dereliction of duty, leaving assigned posts without authorization, falsifying credentials, verbal abuse and defamation.
The data also detailed cases in which volunteers were removed after making inappropriate remarks.
One volunteer dispatched to Colombia in 2022 was dismissed in April 2024 after making remarks about wanting to find a girlfriend in Colombia and telling another person to sleep at or live at the volunteer's home.
Another volunteer, dispatched to Laos in 2025, repeatedly asked students personal questions unrelated to educational activities, including whether they were married, their dating experience and whether they planned to have children.
That volunteer was also found to have made remarks suggesting they were looking for a marriage partner and was dismissed in June this year.
The cases have raised questions over how effectively KOICA can monitor the conduct of volunteers stationed abroad, where continuous supervision can be more difficult than in a domestic workplace, with relatively small groups of volunteers often living and working together overseas.
"KOICA overseas volunteers are dispatched in the name of the Republic of Korea and interact directly with local residents, so inappropriate conduct cannot simply be dismissed as individual wrongdoing," Lee said in a statement.
Such violations could damage Korea's standing and credibility abroad, Lee said, calling for strict action against serious breaches of service rules, including sexual misconduct.
"Measures must be put in place to ensure that everything from on-site supervision to reporting and counseling procedures and victim protection works effectively," Lee said.
He also called on KOICA to review the conduct of volunteers currently serving overseas to determine whether there have been additional victims or similar cases.
A total of 1,890 KOICA volunteers were dispatched overseas during the period. Separately from those dismissed for misconduct, 130 volunteers ended their assignments early for other reasons, including personal circumstances, difficulties adjusting to their host countries and health problems.
The KOICA overseas volunteer program received an average annual budget of 73.9 billion won ($52.5 million) between 2022 and 2026.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
