Following President Lee Jae-myung’s directive, the South Korean government has been making an all-out effort to combat scam crimes in Cambodia since October, resulting in the repatriation of 107 South Korean suspects from Cambodia. The South Korean government has established a close cooperation system, positively influencing the Cambodian government’s stance on repatriating South Korean suspects through diplomatic efforts by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Intelligence Service, and the police.
Additionally, due to large-scale arrest operations conducted by the Cambodian government in July and September and the local visits by the joint response team from the South Korean government, the cumulative number of South Korean suspects arrested in Cambodia reached 154 by the end of November. Consequently, the number of reports of South Korean nationals being detained or missing in Cambodia drastically decreased from 93 in October, when the joint response began, to 17 in November, showing a reduction of over 80%.
To address the scam crimes in Cambodia, President Lee Jae-myung chaired a meeting of relevant ministers on October 23 and ordered the establishment of a special response headquarters involving eight agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the National Intelligence Service, and the Financial Services Commission. Since then, the government has continued its strategic efforts, including holding a Korea-Cambodia summit and opening a dedicated Korea task force.
The government will continue to respond firmly and strongly to transnational crimes that threaten the safety, lives, and livelihoods of our citizens, and will make it clear that any harm to South Korean nationals will result in greater losses for the perpetrators.