A joint government response team will depart for Cambodia on the 15th, where crimes such as job fraud targeting Koreans, as well as abduction and confinement, have been occurring.
The Director General of the response team is Vice Minister Kim Jin-a of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Spokesperson Park Sung-joo of the National Office of Investigation and officials from the Korean National Police Agency, the Ministry of Justice, and the National Intelligence Service are joining the team. Earlier, President Lee Jae-myung ordered the team to be dispatched urgently to Cambodia to protect our nationals.
The response team is working to arrange meetings with senior Cambodian officials on the ground. The team is expected to urge the Cambodian authorities to cooperate in the investigation into the torture death of a Korean college student, a person surnamed Park (22), that occurred in Aug., and to discuss autopsy and remains repatriation procedures, as well as a joint investigation.
The team is also said to be discussing the repatriation of Koreans who were detected and are being detained by local authorities. According to an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 90 Koreans involved in online scam crimes were arrested by Cambodian authorities in Jul.–Aug., and 63 are currently detained.
Kim Nam-joon, Spokesperson for the presidential office, said at a briefing the previous day that the policy is to repatriate all nationals. The government is considering deploying a chartered plane for their return to Korea. However, it was reported that a considerable number of the detained Koreans intend to remain locally.
According to an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the number of Koreans who entered Cambodia and were reported missing or confined was 220 last year and 330 from Jan. to Aug. this year. Of these, 210 last year and about 260 this year were closed. This means it was confirmed they were not in confinement. The status of the remaining roughly 80 is currently unknown.
According to the presidential office, the Korean and Cambodian governments agreed to form a joint response task force (TF) against scams, centered on the police of both countries with investigative authorities participating. The Korean National Police Agency plans to launch an international cooperation council to conduct joint operations in response to the kidnapping and confinement of Koreans occurring in Southeast Asian countries.