The embassy said a Korean exchange student it identified as Lee was forced to submit to a strip search and physical abuse when he was on a train from France to the northern Swiss town of Basle on Feb. 18.

Lee complained on the website of the Korean Embassy in the Swiss capital of Berne two days later. He explained that police suspected the powdered nutritional supplements he was carrying were heroin.

According to Lee, Swiss border guards dragged him into their office and although a drug test turned up negative forced him to kneel on the ground naked, kicking and slapping him several times when he did not immediately do as they told him.

Cleared of suspicion, Lee said he left the office and asked a person who appeared to be in charge his name and contact information and demanded an apology. When he was refused, he asked his embassy to investigate.

An official at the Korean Embassy said Wednesday the mission had contacted border police in the Basle region, who told them there was no record of a search at the time when the incident allegedly occurred. The official said he was doing everything he could to get to the bottom of the situation.

The embassy said a Korean traveling in Lucerne in November 2003, who was subjected to improper treatment at the hands of Swiss police after being wrongly accused of using counterfeit money, received a belated apology and compensation for emotional distress due to the embassy's efforts.

(englishnews@chosun.com )