The foreign ministry on Tuesday sent a delegation to China to investigate how officials at its Beijing embassy and Shenyang consular office dealt with Chinese authorities executing a South Korean man convicted of drug trafficking in September.
The delegation headed by Choi Byong-ho, inspector at the foreign ministry, will probe allegations that the embassy and consular office were slow to respond to China's execution of the convict, identified only by his surname Shin, on Sept. 25.
The consular office was notified on Oct. 26, one month after the execution.
The delegates will also find out why the embassy and the consular office did not confirm even the identities of the four South Koreans, including Shin, after they were arrested by Chinese authorities on charges of drug trafficking in September 1997.