SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) - Amid a string of crimes targeting South Koreans in Cambodia, authorities are considering measures to strengthen consular support and bolster local investigative capabilities to crack down on them.
According to government sources on Sunday, South Korea is in talks with Cambodia to bolster security by increasing police personnel at the South Korean Embassy in Phnom Penh and forming a joint task force to tackle the rise in employment scam-related crimes including kidnappings.
The talks came after it was belatedly revealed that a South Korean college student, who had visited the Southeast Asian country after being lured by an online employment scam in August, was later found to have been tortured and killed. The tragic incident prompted South Korea to raise the travel alert for the region.
Currently, the embassy has only three police officers, making it difficult to respond to the growing number of such incidents.
In addition to increasing embassy staff, discussions are underway to set up a dedicated desk within the Cambodian police department to focus on crimes involving South Koreans.
The move is based on a similar effort in the Philippines, which has been in place since 2012 to assist with crimes that local authorities find difficult to manage independently.
* This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP.
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