Anchor: A South Korean diplomat who allegedly leaked the content of a phone conversation between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump to a South Korean lawmaker has returned to Seoul from Washington. The Foreign Ministry plans to refer him to a disciplinary committee, and severe penalties seem unavoidable. 
Celina Yoon has more.

Report: A diplomat working at the South Korean Embassy in the U.S. accused of leaking the content of a confidential phone conversation recorded between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump returned to Seoul on Sunday.

The Foreign Ministry has immediate plans to begin disciplinary procedures following an additional probe. It will investigate the diplomat over details of the leak, which may pose a danger to national security.

The probe will also focus on whether main opposition Liberty Korea Party lawmaker Khang Hyo-shang, who attended the same high school as the diplomat, requested or pressured him to disclose details of the phone conversation, as well as the breadth and scope of classified information that was leaked. 

Allegations that confidential information had been leaked first came to light earlier this month when Khang disclosed to reporters that Moon had asked Trump to visit South Korea immediately after his trip to Japan in late May, citing an unnamed diplomatic source in the U.S.

The lawmaker apparently gleaned this information from the classified phone call which the diplomat is accused of leaking to him.

The Foreign Ministry is reportedly considering suggesting the harshest possible disciplinary actions for the diplomat, such as expulsion from the foreign service and even legal penalties, when the Ministry of Personnel Management considers the case following the conclusion of the probe.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said on Saturday that the diplomat should be strictly reprimanded, with the presidential office expressing similar sentiments the following day.

The ministry plans to accelerate an investigation of the South Korean Embassy in Washington to ascertain whether it has been appropriately handling confidential information.

Meanwhile, Trump is scheduled to visit South Korea late next month to discuss the denuclearization of North Korea and alliance issues with Moon.
Celina Yoon, KBS World Radio News.