Korea, Vietnam tighten crackdown on cross-border crime networks

President Lee Jae Myung presides over a meeting on eradicating cross-border crimes at the presidential office in Seoul, Oct. 23, 2025. Captured from Lee's social media

Korean and Vietnamese police officials met in Hanoi Sunday to deepen cooperation against a surge in cross-border criminal networks that authorities said have expanded rapidly across Southeast Asia.

The National Police Agency said Tuesday that the talks focused on strengthening joint responses to organized crimes such as voice phishing, cyber gambling, romance scams and online investment fraud, while also enhancing protection for Korean nationals abroad.

Park Jun-sung, acting commissioner general for international affairs at the agency, met with officials from Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security to discuss what investigators described as a growing “balloon effect,” in which criminal groups relocate operations to neighboring countries after crackdowns intensify elsewhere.

The two sides signed an action plan under an existing police cooperation agreement, outlining expanded collaboration in tracking fugitives, sharing criminal intelligence, responding to cyber and financial crimes and protecting overseas citizens.

Officials also agreed to revise operational agreements tied to the Korea-Vietnam liaison desk, first established in 2015 within both police agencies, to reflect increasingly sophisticated and transnational crime patterns.

Both governments said the liaison desk has served as an important channel for international cooperation over the past decade, including fugitive arrests, intelligence sharing and investigative support.

The agencies said they would broaden the platform’s role in coordinating responses to organized crime groups operating across borders.

The meeting also addressed concerns that some criminal organizations have shifted operations into Vietnam and nearby countries following intensified enforcement efforts in other parts of the region.

Authorities said they would increase real-time information sharing on criminal activity and strengthen coordination between investigative agencies to respond more quickly to the movement of organized crime groups.

Park said Vietnam remained one of Korea’s key partners because of extensive economic ties and active exchanges involving Korean citizens and businesses.

He said closer police cooperation would help both countries respond more effectively to transnational crime and improve safety protections for Koreans overseas.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.