| Barbed wire lines the perimeter of a compound in Takeo province, Cambodia, that South Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jina visited after meeting Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet Thursday to discuss the problem of job scams in the Southeast Asian country. (Reuters) |
South Korea called for a concerted international response at the United Nations to tackle large-scale human trafficking in Southeast Asia, amid a rapid surge in cases of its nationals forced into labor and criminal activities in Cambodia’s scam compounds.
Kim Sang-jin, South Korea’s deputy ambassador to the UN, shed light on the issue amid mounting public concern over the rise of crimes — including human trafficking, forced confinement, and assault — committed by scam syndicates in Cambodia targeting South Korean nationals.
The public outcry has flared after the body of a South Korean university student was found in early August at a scam compound on Bokor Mountain in Kampot Province, Cambodia.
"Today I would like to raise the issue of human trafficking and urge continued attention by Member States and UN human rights mechanisms, including this Committee, to the grave and persistent threat of human trafficking," Kim said Thursday local time during an interactive dialogue at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly.
"This crime is increasingly intertwined with emerging forms of transnational crime, such as online scams as seen in the recent surge in cases targeting citizens of the Republic of Korea and other nations in Southeast Asian territories, underscoring the need for stronger international cooperation," Kim added. The Republic of Korea is South Korea's official name.
South Korea is among the countries whose nationals have been subjected to large-scale trafficking for the purposes of forced labor and forced criminality in scam compounds across Cambodia, according to data from the UN Human Rights Office.
Speaking at the UNGA session, Kim underscored that "Turning a blind eye to it is an abdication of our collective responsibility, leading to lifelong harm, disappearance, and even death of countless victims."
The Lee Jae Myung administration has doubled down on efforts to address a spike in the number of South Koreans lured by bogus job offers and are then trapped and forced to carry out online fraud or assist criminal operations.
President Lee Jae Myung urgently dispatched the joint government response team led by Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jina and includes Park Sung-joo, head of the National Office of Investigation to Cambodia on Wendesday.
The South Korean government delegation met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Chhay Sinarith, head of the Secretariat of the Commission for Combating Online Scams chaired by Hun, on Thursday. In the afternoon, the delegation also visited the Taija compound, one of several scam complexes in Takeo Province.
According to data from South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, the number of reported cases stating that South Koreans lost contact or were confined after entering Cambodia has risen sharply over the past five years.
From just two cases in 2021 to 11 in 2022, 21 in 2023, and 221 in 2024. As of August this year, the total had already reached 330 cases.
Of these, about 260 cases this year and 210 last year have been resolved after confirming the whereabouts of those reported missing, while roughly 80 cases remain open as of August because their whereabouts have yet to be confirmed.
However, observers warn that the actual number of Korean victims may be far higher.
Seoul's National Intelligence Service has estimated that more than 1,000 South Koreans could be in scam compounds in Cambodia, though their involvement in criminal activities has not been confirmed.
