Police to set up special unit in Cambodia amid rising crimes against Koreans

Korean police said Sunday that they plan to launch a "Korean Desk" in Cambodia to assist victims amid growing concerns over a surge in kidnapping and torture cases involving Korean nationals in the Southeast Asian country.

The move comes as diplomatic tensions between the two nations have escalated over organized crime rings involved in online scams and kidnappings targeting Korean nationals.

Cooperation in responding to such crimes will be a key agenda item during a bilateral meeting between the heads of the two police agencies on the sidelines of the International Police Summit 2025, to be held in Seoul from Oct. 20 to 23, according to the National Police Agency.

The meeting is expected to include the signing of a memorandum of understanding to establish a Korean Desk and dispatch Korean police officers to Cambodia.

"We will mobilize all of our international cooperation capabilities to protect the lives and safety of our citizens," the agency said in a statement.

A Korean Desk refers to Korean police officers stationed within a foreign law enforcement agency to handle crimes involving Korean nationals. The first Korean Desk was set up in the Philippines in 2012, followed by another in Thailand.

Earlier in the day, the law enforcement authorities announced plans to conduct a joint autopsy with Cambodian authorities on a Korean college student who was kidnapped and allegedly tortured to death.

The Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency said it will carry out the joint autopsy on the deceased Korean national in Cambodia together with the National Police Agency's Forensic Science Unit.

In a preliminary examination, Cambodian police listed the cause of death as cardiac arrest from severe pain due to torture.

"The cause of death cannot be confirmed based on the preliminary examination alone," a police official told Yonhap News Agency, adding that investigators plan to depart once the schedule is finalized with Cambodian authorities.

The victim, a 22-year-old student from Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province, was found dead in Cambodia in August, two weeks after entering the country for a summer vacation on July 17.

A week after his departure, his family received a phone call from someone demanding a 50 million won ($38,500) ransom and claiming the student "had caused trouble."

But communication with the extortionist was cut off after a few days, and the student was discovered dead about two weeks later. A witness who had been confined in the same place reportedly claimed that the deceased student had been beaten so severely that he could neither walk nor breathe, and died while being transported to a hospital.

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, back right, holds a bilateral meeting with Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, back left, in New York, Sept. 24, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs

This incident has drawn widespread attention amid a sharp rise in crimes targeting Koreans in Cambodia.

According to data from Seoul's foreign ministry submitted to Rep. Park Chan-dae of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, the number of reported kidnappings or detentions of Koreans in Cambodia stood at 330 cases between January and August this year, up from 221 in 2024, 21 in 2023, 11 in 2022 and just four in 2021.

These alarming cases have sparked a diplomatic row between the two nations.

On Friday, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun summoned Cambodian Ambassador to Korea Khuon Phon Rattanak, expressing deep concern and requesting that the Cambodian government actively cooperate with Korean authorities in establishing a "Korean desk" there to assist victims.

The move was seen as a strong diplomatic protest by Seoul, as it is unusual for a minister to summon an ambassador, a task normally handled at the director-general or vice minister level.

President Lee Jae Myung on Saturday ordered the foreign ministry to take all-out measures in response to the string of crimes against Koreans in Cambodia.