Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination Yun Chang-ryeol said on the 13th that the government "did not play a big role" regarding the violent incident in Cambodia involving Koreans.
That day, the Deputy Minister Yun attended a National Policy Committee audit and said, "Regarding Cambodia, what we have looked into so far is official development assistance (ODA) and voice phishing, and we announced countermeasures in Aug. and Sep."
Yun added, "We have recognized as important and continued to focus on the situation that many main perpetrators of crime are in Cambodia," but "we did not play a big role regarding abductions and confinement."
That day, Park Beom-gye of the Democratic Party of Korea said, "The level of urgency so far is not enough," adding, "We need to take this issue to a level where police, diplomacy, and even military operations are possible." In response, the Deputy Minister Yun said, "Of course, including such measures, our government will respond."
Even so, the Deputy Minister Yun said, "It would be better if we can resolve it without going that far (military operations)," adding, "We will respond including everything."
Kang Min-guk of the People Power Party noted, "In 2011, when our citizens were abducted by Somali pirates, we rescued them through a military operation," pointing out, "If Cambodia refuses a joint military-police operation, we should consider recovering the ODA funds."
Kang also said, "From Jan. to Aug. this year, there were 330 reports of abductions of Koreans; is there any grasp of the number of unreported abduction victims?" adding, "Hundreds of our citizens are abducted and confined and are in a desperate situation—should the government stand by with its arms folded?"
The Deputy Minister Yun said, "We take the current situation very seriously," adding, "President Lee Jae-myung has issued additional instructions, and Prime Minister Kim Min-seok shares the same awareness, so the Office for Government Policy Coordination (OPC) will do its utmost to resolve the issue."
Meanwhile, the presidential office said in a media notice that Wi Sung-lac, head of the Office of National Security, will convene a related ministries task force (TF) meeting to actively devise responses to employment scam and confinement damages in Cambodia and related crimes.