The presidential office said on Dec. 12 that government efforts to counter Cambodia scam crimes led to the repatriation of 107 Korean suspects. Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said at an afternoon briefing that these figures were achieved as "the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), and the police, through diplomatic efforts, shifted the Cambodian government's position favorably on repatriating Korean suspects to Korea."
Kang, the spokesperson, said the cumulative number of Korean suspects apprehended in Cambodia reached 154 as of the end of November, calling it "the effect of the large-scale arrest operations carried out by the Cambodian government in July and September, and the on-site visit by Korea's joint response team." She also said reports of cases involving the confinement or disappearance of Koreans in Cambodia fell more than 80%, from 93 in October, when the government joint response team began its activities, to 17 in November.
Earlier, President Lee Jae-myung chaired a related ministers' meeting on Oct. 23 to respond to Cambodia scam crimes and ordered interagency cooperation and an all-out response. At the time, Lee ordered eight agencies—the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the National Tax Service, the Korea Customs Service, and the Korean National Police Agency—to jointly form a "special response headquarters" and to draw up strong measures.