Figure in Petraeus Scandal Seen Losing Her Post as Honorary Consul

HONG KONG - Jill Kelley, the Florida hostess who unwittingly touched off the scandal that led to the resignation of the C.I.A. director David H. Petraeus, is about to be sacked as an honorary consul for South Korea, according to news reports from Seoul.

The Yonhap news agency cited a senior South Korean official as saying that Ms. Kelley, 37, would lose her largely ceremonial title over the scandal. The agency also reported that Kim Kyou-hyun, the deputy foreign minister for political affairs, said that Ms. Kelley had used her position for personal gain.

The South Korean government had not announced a formal revocation of her title by Tuesday afternoon.

Honorary consuls are little more than courtesy appointments, and Seoul reportedly has 15 such positions in the United States. They are paid a token amount, about $2,500 in the case of South Korea.

“Their mission is to help promote Korea-U.S. relations and protect the rights of Korean Americans,” Yonhap wrote, adding that they have “no specific privileges or protections under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”

When Ms. Kelley called the Tampa police on Nov. 11 to complain about a trespasser at her home, she mentioned her title and apparently tried to claim the preferential treatment given to official envoys abroad - diplomatic immunity.

“You know, I don't know if by any chance, because I'm an honorary consul general, so I have inviolability, so they should not be able to cross my property,” Ms. Kelley said in her call, as reported by Bloomberg News. “I don't know if you want to get diplomatic protection involved as well.”

A recording of Ms. Kelley's call, which begins at 1:24 of the tape, is here.

A diplomatic official quoted by Josh Rogin of Foreign Policy magazine said Ms. Kelley had helped to rally support for the free trade agreement between Seoul and Washington, and she arranged meetings between American busi ness executives and the South Korean ambassador to the United States.

Ms. Kelley, her husband and her twin sister, Natalie Khawam, held social gatherings and befriended senior military officers at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, the home of U.S. Central Command and the Special Operations Command.

Ms. Kelley has since lost her clearance to visit MacDill without an escort, ABC News reported.

It was not clear whether Ms. Kelley would need new license plates for her silver Mercedes-Benz S500. Her current Florida plates, embossed with “1JK,” identify her as an honorary consul.

The Petraeus scandal came to light after Ms. Kelley contacted the F.B.I. to complain about anonymous e-mails she was receiving, messages that accused her of “inappropriately flirtatious behavior toward Mr. Petraeus,” as The Times has reported.

“The subsequent cyberstalking investigation uncovered an extramarital affair between Mr. Petraeus and Paula Broadwell, his b iographer, who agents determined had sent the anonymous e-mails,” the Times story said.

“It also ensnared Gen. John R. Allen, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, after F.B.I. agents discovered what a law enforcement official said on Wednesday were sexually explicit e-mail exchanges between him and Ms. Kelley.”

Mr. Petraeus, a former four-star general, acknowledged the affair with Ms. Broadwell and resigned as C.I.A. director on Nov. 9.

My colleague Scott Shane reported last week that Ms. Kelley has hired Abbe D. Lowell, the Washington defense lawyer who successfully defended John Edwards against the alleged misuse of campaign funds.

“Mr. Lowell, an acquaintance of Ms. Kelley's from the Washington social scene, immediately brought in Judy Smith, an old hand at scandals in the capital, who promotes herself as ‘America's No. 1 Crisis Management Expert,' ” Scott said.

Ms. Khawam is being represented by the celebrity lawyer Glori a Allred, while Ms. Broadwell has hired Dee Dee Myers, the former Clinton White House press secretary.

Ms. Myers told Scott that her firm, the Glover Park Group, was enlisted by Ms. Broadwell's lawyers to “help Paula and her legal team navigate a crowded media environment, manage incoming requests and ensure that her story is accurately told.”

Mr. Petraeus has hired the noted Washington lawyer Robert B. Barnett. “Though he is perhaps best known for negotiating book megadeals for the Washington elite,” Scott said, “his focus this time is said to be steering Mr. Petraeus's future career, not his literary life.”