By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter

Cambodia has temporarily banned its citizens from tying the knot with Korean nationals, officials at the Korean Embassy in the Southeast Asian country said Friday.

On its Web site, the Korean embassy announced that it was notified of the decision by the Cambodian government on March 5 through an official document.

According to officials of the embassy, the Cambodian government claimed that the measure was drawn up in line with efforts to prevent human trafficking.

The government has also expressed its concern that marriages to Koreans through brokers or matchmakers have become common practice, although it is illegal there.

The number of marriages to Korean nationals accounts for nearly 60 percent of the country's total multicultural marriages, according to them.

The number of Cambodians marrying to Koreans stood at 1,759 in 2007, up from 365 in the previous year. The figure dropped to 551 in 2008.

leeth@koreatimes.co.kr