Why did South Korea’s Foreign Ministry not raise Cambodia’s travel alert when its embassy requested an increase in 2024?

The ministry said the situation fell short of the criteria for a special travel alert or gave other reasons for not raising the alert after the embassy’s requests in April and July 2024. It sought an upgrade only after media reports about the crimes in August.

What other protective measures did the audit agency say South Korea’s Foreign Ministry failed to take over Cambodia job scams?

The Board of Audit and Inspection said the ministry should have considered activating a task force to protect Korean nationals abroad, but did not even hold a meeting on the matter. It advised disciplinary measures against three ministry officials for failing to act in time.

Foreign ministry fails to take steps even after learning of job scam crimes in Cambodia: audit agency

Q: When did South Korea’s Foreign Ministry learn about job scams and kidnappings targeting South Koreans in Cambodia, and when did it raise the travel alert?

The ministry learned of the crimes after December 2023 through information from overseas diplomatic missions and private firms. It raised the alert in September, after the Korean student’s death became public.

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Summary

The Foreign Ministry failed to raise Cambodia’s travel alert or take other timely measures despite learning that job scams and kidnappings targeting South Koreans were worsening, the Board of Audit and Inspection said Thursday. The ministry received information about the crimes after December 2023, and South Korea’s Embassy in Cambodia urged an alert increase in April and July 2024. The alert was raised in September only after a Korean student’s death became public. The audit agency advised disciplinary measures against three ministry officials.

Key Facts

The embassy’s requests in April and July 2024 were rejected because the ministry said the situation did not meet the criteria for a special travel alert or cited other reasons.
The ministry sought to upgrade the alert only after media outlets reported on the crimes in August.
The audit agency said the ministry did not hold a meeting to consider activating a task force to protect Korean nationals abroad.

By Yonhap

Published Nov 5, 2026 1:23 pm KST

The Board of Audit and Inspection/ Yonhap

The foreign ministry failed to raise the travel alert for Cambodia or take other necessary measures in a timely manner, even though it had been aware that job scams targeting South Koreans were worsening in the Southeast Asian nation, the state audit agency said Thursday.

Such crimes sparked public outrage last year after a South Korean college student was tortured to death by a Chinese scam ring in Cambodia, shedding light on a series of similar cases where young South Koreans were lured into the country with promises of high-paying jobs only to end up being kidnapped.

According to the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI), the foreign ministry learned after December 2023 through information from overseas diplomatic missions and private firms that South Koreans were falling victim to job scams and kidnapping in Cambodia, with the nature of the crimes becoming increasingly brutal.

South Korea's Embassy in Cambodia repeatedly suggested to the ministry in April and July 2024 that the travel alert for the country be raised, but the ministry did not do so, citing that the situation fell short of the criteria for a special travel alert or other reasons.

It was only after media outlets reported on these crimes in August that the ministry sought to upgrade the travel alert. The alert was ultimately raised in September only after the student's death became public, according to the audit agency.

The BAI also point out that the ministry should have considered activating a task force for the protection of Korean nationals abroad, yet it failed to even hold a meeting on the matter.

The audit agency advised the ministry to take disciplinary measures against three ministry officials for failing to take necessary measures in time, officials said.

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