Gov't considers sending personnel to bring Koreans awaiting return home from Cambodia
Published: 13 Oct. 2025, 20:01
![Foreign Minister speaks to the press on Aug. 14 at the government complex in Jongno, central Seoul. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/13/45466d68-f102-4acc-8e3c-e140c0ebd613.jpg)
Foreign Minister speaks to the press on Aug. 14 at the government complex in Jongno, central Seoul. [YONHAP]
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Monday the government is working to come up with “extraordinary measures” to address a surge in cases of Koreans who have fallen victim to job scams and illegal confinement in Cambodia, including the possibility of airlifting those waiting to return home.
Cho made the remarks during a parliamentary audit of his ministry amid public outcry and safety concerns following the torture and death of a South Korean college student in the Southeast Asian country in August.
“What we are currently discussing with Cambodia is the possibility of dispatching personnel to bring all those awaiting return back by plane,” Cho said. “The ministry will continue utmost efforts to make extraordinary countermeasures.”
During the first eight months of this year alone, South Korean diplomatic missions in Cambodia received 330 reports related to such incidents, according to authorities.
President Lee Jae Myung on Saturday ordered all-out diplomatic measures to safeguard nationals from these kinds of crimes.
Earlier in the day, the presidential office said it will hold a meeting of a pan-government task force to mull countermeasures to crimes, such as employment scams and confinements, targeting Korean nationals in Cambodia.
National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac will preside over the meeting, which will bring together officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice and the National Police Agency, the office said.
Participants are expected to assess the situation and explore measures to strengthen the protection and safety of Korean nationals through closer coordination with Cambodian authorities.
“The government has made various efforts to protect Korean nationals from the increasing number of employment scams and confinements in Cambodia and will sternly enforce laws on related crime organizations to root out such damage,” the office said in a press notice.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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