![Cars on a road near Cambodia's Techo International Airport on Oct. 14. [Photo=Yonhap]](https://image.ajunews.com/content/image/2025/10/15/20251015092026458357.jpg)
SEOUL, October 15 (AJP) - The government is sending a task force to Cambodia on Wednesday to investigate the rising number of crimes targeting South Koreans there.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the team, led by Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jin-ah, will head to Phnom Penh along with officials from the National Police Agency and other investigators.
The dispatch comes after recent revelations of a series of kidnappings, detentions and brutal tortures involving South Koreans, including the case of a South Korean college student who traveled to the Southeast Asian country after being lured by an online employment scam in August and was later found to have been tortured to death.
They aim to find and rescue victims and detainees, and also meet with Cambodian officials to seek cooperation for the joint investigation of the student's death.
According to the ministry, about 80 South Korean citizens remain unaccounted for, out of some143 reported cases of suspected kidnapping, hostage-taking, or disappearance.
To minimize diplomatic disruptions, former Ambassador to Lebanon Park Il will oversee embassy operations in Cambodia, as the ambassadorial post there remains vacant.
* This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP.
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