S. Korea police want to probe US diplomat over car accident

By HYUNG-JIN KIM
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean police say they’re pushing to investigate a U.S. diplomat to find if he intentionally fled following a traffic accident in Seoul. Police say the diplomat’s car rear-ended a taxi in Seoul on Wednesday but kept moving without stopping. The taxi chased the diplomat’s car until it stopped close to the gate of a nearby U.S. military base. Police officers dispatched to the site tried to identify the diplomat, but he refused to comply with any inquiry. The U.S. Embassy disputed the account of the accident reported in the press, without elaborating which parts of the media reports it refers to. Under the Vienna Convention, diplomats and their families are granted protection against criminal prosecution, which can be voluntarily waived.