Korean embassy under fire as lawmakers grill officials over Cambodia crime surge

Rep. Kim Seok-ki, chair of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, strikes the gavel to open an on-site audit at the Korean Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday. Yonhap

Korean lawmakers on Wednesday accused the nation’s embassy in Cambodia of failing to respond swiftly to an increase in abduction and confinement cases involving Korean nationals, following a National Intelligence Service (NIS) report suggesting that as many as 2,000 Koreans may have participated in large-scale scam operations across the country.

During an on-site audit at the embassy in Phnom Penh, members of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee questioned embassy officials about what they called “a serious lapse in protecting citizens abroad.”

According to the embassy, about 100 of the 550 kidnapping and confinement reports filed over the past two years remain unresolved, while 450 were closed following rescue operations or releases.

The lawmakers said that the response had been slow despite repeated appeals from the families of victims and civic groups.

Rival lawmakers voiced rare unity in condemning the embassy’s handling of the crisis but clashed over its root causes. Members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) argued that the government had been too distracted by the administrative vacuum that followed former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration last December to manage overseas missions effectively. Opposition lawmakers countered that senior officials had simply failed to act.

Rep. Song Eon-seog of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) said that neither the prime minister nor the foreign minister had made a single phone call to Cambodian authorities, despite the mounting number of cases.

“When citizens report incidents, they’re told it is outside office hours — that’s why private groups are stepping in,” he said, adding that embassy staff appeared “overwhelmed and indifferent.”

DPK lawmaker Yoon Hu-duk acknowledged that the mission was under considerable strain, noting that two administrative staff had recently resigned due to stress. “With more than 30 to 80 cases reported each month, it is impossible to manage with a team of only a dozen,” he said, adding, “As a senior member of the governing party, I feel deeply responsible.”

Kim Hyun-soo, the embassy’s chargé d’affaires, told the committee that efforts to coordinate with local authorities were ongoing.

“We are working closely with the Cambodian authorities, and a 24-hour hotline is available for emergency assistance,” he said.

Lawmakers also debated the need to establish a permanent “Korean desk” with Cambodian law enforcement to standardize emergency procedures for abduction and confinement cases.

The NIS, reporting separately to the Assembly’s Intelligence Committee, has estimated that between 1,000 and 2,000 Koreans are involved in scam operations run by Chinese criminal groups based in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville. It is believed that these syndicates control around 50 compounds, employing 200,000 people.

The agency revealed that the individual responsible for the murder of a Korean student in Kampot Province in August was connected to a drug trafficking case in Seoul’s Gangnam District in 2023.

The Cambodian crisis has become a political flashpoint in Seoul. During a recent Assembly session, the ruling DPK accused the previous administration of prioritizing official development aid to Cambodia over citizen safety.

In response, the opposition PPP claimed that Chinese-run crime syndicates were the root cause, urging the government to address the issue directly with Beijing.