SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Yonhap) -- In the latest effort to restore its tarnished image following a stock manipulation scandal involving diplomats, the foreign ministry said Monday that it will set up a committee to deliberate press statements before their release.

Wrapping up a months-long probe, state auditors concluded late last month that Kim Eun-seok, the ministry's ambassador for energy and resources, had played a role in inflating the stock prices of CNK International by deliberately exaggerating the volume of diamond reserves in a Cameroon mine developed by the KOSDAQ-listed company.