Cambodia questions warning from President Lee on social media
Published: 03 Feb. 2026, 15:31
Updated: 03 Feb. 2026, 17:17
![A message President Lee Jae Myung shared on X on Jan. 30 that says, “If you mess with Koreans, you will be ruined. Do you think I’m bluffing? Korea does what it says it will do, to the end.″ [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/02/03/ba1745cc-e215-4c06-9b7d-e5facecfedcf.jpg)
A message President Lee Jae Myung shared on X on Jan. 30 that says, “If you mess with Koreans, you will be ruined. Do you think I’m bluffing? Korea does what it says it will do, to the end.″ [SCREEN CAPTURE]
The Cambodian government questioned the intent behind a warning posted by President Lee Jae Myung in Khmer, the official language of Cambodia, after Cambodian media outlets raised concerns that the message could stigmatize the Southeast Asian country as a criminal hub.
The concerns stemmed from a post Lee shared on Friday and later deleted, in which he issued a strong warning over crimes targeting Koreans in Cambodia.
Lee shared an article on X that said online scam groups operating in Cambodia fear crackdowns by Korean police.
He added a message to the post saying, “If you mess with Koreans, you will be ruined. Do you think I’m bluffing? Korea does what it says it will do, to the end."
Lee also posted the same message in Khmer.
Observers viewed the message as a signal of the government’s resolve to eradicate related crimes, following recent results by a pan-government task force on transnational crime, including the forced repatriation of about 70 suspects from Cambodia.
However, some Cambodian media outlets pointed to Lee’s use of Khmer, warning that the wording risked casting Cambodia itself in a negative light.
In response, Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation summoned Kim Chang-ryong, Korea’s ambassador to Cambodia, to ask about the background and intent behind Lee’s decision to write the message in Khmer.
Kim explained that the president "used the local language because some members of criminal organizations may not understand Korean or English."
Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the meeting involving Kim was a routine communication on pending issues and did not constitute a "formal diplomatic protest."
After Cambodian officials conveyed their concerns, Lee’s post was deleted.
“It appears the president judged that the message had been sufficiently publicized,” Blue House spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KO SEUNG-PYO [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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