A Seoul City official is under investigation over allegations that he sexually assaulted a female colleague, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Friday.

Shortly after the Seocho Police Station launched a formal investigation into the case, the Seoul City removed the official from post, citing the need to take stern measures against such acts.

He allegedly took his drunken co-worker to a motel after a social gathering and sexually assaulted her on April 14.

The city said that it would strictly deal with the case based on the police investigation. “We are deeply sorry for what happened during a turbulent period,” a senior official from the Seoul Metropolitan Government said during a press briefing. He added that the city would introduce strict guidelines to prevent such incidents from happening again.

“If similar sex-related incident occurs again, the official involved will be dealt with severe penalty,” he said.

Earlier, the Seoul City government said in a statement that it would handle the sexual crime incident according to a zero-tolerance policy while taking steps to protect the victim.

By Park Jun-hee (junheeep97@heraldcorp.com)