South Korea will dispatch a task force to Cambodia on Wednesday to oversee the repatriation of citizens being held in the country after a surge of kidnappings, the office of President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday. Lee discussed the issue during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul. Pool Photo by Yonhap/EPA
The South Korean government will send a joint response team to Cambodia to oversee the repatriation of citizens being held in the country after a surge in kidnappings, Seoul’s presidential office said Tuesday, following the highly publicized torture and murder of a 22-year-old who was lured by a scam job order.
The team, led by Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Ji-na, will depart Wednesday, presidential spokesman Kim Nam-joon told reporters. Members of the National Police Agency and the National Intelligence Service will participate in the mission.
“The Ministry will make every possible diplomatic effort to encourage Cambodian cooperation and, in consultation with relevant ministries and agencies, strengthen the embassy’s response capabilities, including increasing the number of police officers stationed at the Cambodian embassy,” Kim said.
“The government will also consider upgrading travel alerts for key crime areas in Cambodia to prevent further damage,” he added.
The move comes after South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday called for government ministries to use “all available resources” to help South Koreans trapped in Cambodia return home.
“Relevant ministries should consult with the Cambodian government and expedite the establishment of a regular cooperation system between law enforcement authorities,” Lee said at a Cabinet meeting, according to his office.
According to data from lawmaker Na Kyung-won, the number of kidnappings of South Koreans in Cambodia soared to 220 in 2024 and reached 330 through August of this year. In previous years, the average was between 10 and 20.
Most of the cases are linked to transnational crime gangs running large-scale voice phishing rings and illegal gambling operations. Victims are lured with fake job offers and then held against their will and forced to participate in criminal activities.
In one recent case that sparked public outrage, a Korean university student was found dead near Bokor Mountain in Kampot Province after being detained and tortured. Three Chinese nationals were indicted on murder and fraud charges by Cambodian prosecutors, state-run news agency Agence Khmer Press reported on Friday.
The rash of crime reports prompted Seoul’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun to summon Cambodia’s ambassador on Friday. The Foreign Ministry also raised its travel alert for the capital city of Phnom Penh and certain regions connected to the employment scams and detentions.
Seoul’s National Police Agency said Sunday that it planned to launch a “Korean Desk” in Cambodia to handle cases involving Korean nationals.
Lawmakers with South Korea’s opposition People Power Party on Tuesday criticized the government’s response to the rising number of crimes in Cambodia.
“Crimes targeting Koreans in Cambodia are not a new phenomenon, but the government has been inactive for some time and is only now taking action,” Rep. Choi Bo-yoon said in a statement. “Protecting the lives and safety of our citizens is the most important responsibility of any nation, but the Lee Jae Myung administration is increasingly putting the entire nation at risk.”
Choi called for a “full-scale, national effort” that includes beefing up local investigative cooperation and filling diplomatic positions, including the vacant ambassador post in Cambodia.
The ruling Democratic Party, meanwhile, blamed the previous administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol for failing to address the surge in crimes, which began while he was in office.
The DP’s Policy Committee Chairperson Han Jeoung-ae said that Yoon increased overseas development assistance to Cambodia while neglecting the safety of Korean citizens in the country.
“It has been revealed that the government reduced its international crime response personnel and ignored requests for more police officers,” Han said at a party meeting Tuesday. “Meanwhile, the number of reported detentions in Cambodia increased tenfold from 21 in 2023 to 221 in 2024.”
