▲ South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (R) poses for a photo with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during the first-ever summit of the leaders of South Korea and five Central Asian countries -- Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan -- in Seoul on Sept. 16, 2026. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung said Thursday that he will root out transnational crimes, including voice phishing targeting South Koreans.

Lee made the remarks on social media while sharing a video showing the arrest of members of a scam ring hiding in Kazakhstan in a joint operation with the local government.

"The notion that one can avoid capture by staying abroad must now be abandoned," Lee said, adding that anyone who commits crimes against South Koreans will be thoroughly tracked down and punished, no matter where in the world they are hiding.

Lee expressed gratitude to Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and the Kazakh authorities for their active cooperation in busting the large-scale voice phishing ring.

The Korean National Police Agency announced on Aug. 5 that investigators from a governmentwide special task force on transnational crimes apprehended 14 members of the South Korean scam ring in the joint operation in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on July 23.

Lee also vowed to crack down on scalpers, while sharing a news report about the arrest of a scalper who had made several billion won by purchasing tickets to idol performances, concerts by foreign artists and sporting events and then reselling them at inflated prices.

"We will thoroughly crack down on scalping crimes that deprive people of fair opportunities to attend events and ensure that all illicit profits are confiscated," the president said, vowing to demonstrate that reaping unfair profits through scalping would inevitably lead to paying a far heavier price.

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