US Secret Service: Two sent home after 'incident' in South Korea

Two Secret Service employees have been put on a plane back to the US after their involvement in an "altercation" in South Korea.

The duo - part of the advance team ahead of President Joe Biden's visit to the country - were bar-hopping in Seoul on Thursday night, US media reports.

One of the employees is said to have got into a physical altercation with a local taxi driver.

No one was detained or arrested but Seoul police investigated the incident.

The agency "is aware of an off-duty incident involving two employees which may constitute potential policy violations", Anthony Guglielmi, a Secret Service spokesman, said in a statement.

He said both employees have been placed on administrative leave and their absence will have no impact on Mr Biden's trip.

The president's trip to Seoul is the first leg of a four-day swing through Asia amid growing concern over sabre-rattling in the region by China and North Korea.

Sources confirmed to the BBC's US partner CBS News that the Secret Service pair - a special agent and a security specialist - were sent home on Friday afternoon, barely an hour before the president's official arrival in the South Korean capital.