The court said he has seriously undermined the integrity of diplomats as public servants and tainted the country's reputation.

The ruling on Park is expected to affect the investigations and their subsequent court proceedings for other similar sexual assault cases involving diplomats that have been laid bare in recent months.

A separate probe is under way into an ambassador to Ethiopia, after allegations were raised that he sexually harassed one of his subordinates at his home last month.

An incumbent ambassador to a Middle East country was also found last year to have been punished for sexually assaulting an embassy worker.

The foreign ministry launched a task force to look into measures to bolster the working discipline for diplomats on overseas missions in a bid to prevent the recurrence of such misdeeds. (Yonhap)