Foreign ministry holds consular meeting on Cambodia scam crisis

Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jina, right, presides over a consular meeting with officials from the Korean Embassy in Cambodia to discuss responses to online job scams in the Southeast Asian country, Tuesday. Courtesy of the foreign ministry

The foreign ministry said Tuesday it held a meeting with the Korean Embassy in Cambodia to check the situation concerning Korean nationals in Cambodia's online job scams.

The meeting, led by Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jina, came as Seoul has stepped up to tackle the crime targeting Koreans in the Southeast Asian country, amid growing concerns over cases in which many Koreans have either participated or fallen victim.

Kim instructed the Korean embassy in Cambodia to continue consultations with Cambodian authorities on operational procedures for a bilateral joint task force, agreed upon between the two countries last week.

She also stressed the need to provide swift and proactive consular assistance to protect Korean citizens in Cambodia, while pledging support to ease the embassy's workload through temporary personnel increases and an additional budget.

Park Il, leading the embassy in Phnom Penh as the de facto head of the mission, said he will work to establish a system to provide consistent support for Korean victims and to boost prevention and response efforts for Koreans in the country, the ministry said.