Foreign ministry sets up Cambodia embassy task force amid job scam crisis

▲ This photo, taken on Oct. 14, 2025, shows a building displaying numerous Chinese signboards in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, an area known as a hotspot for online scam operations. (Yonhap)

foreign ministry-Cambodia task force

Foreign ministry sets up Cambodia embassy task force amid job scam crisis

By Kim Seung-yeon

SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- The foreign ministry said Wednesday it launched a task force at the South Korean Embassy in Cambodia as part of efforts to respond to the widening job scam crisis involving the trafficking and torture of South Korean nationals.

Park Il, former ambassador to Lebanon, will work as the de facto head of the mission in Phnom Penh to oversee affairs related to the job scams, engage closely with Cambodian authorities and seek their cooperation to resolve the issue, the ministry said in a release.

The ambassador post in Cambodia remains vacant since the launch of the Lee Jae Myung government and the absence has been cited by critics as a reason contributing to what they call the government's lax responses.

Park will assume the role until a new ambassador is formally appointed, the ministry said.

The task force also consists of officials from the ministry's consular affairs, development cooperation and Association of Southeast Asian Nations bureaus.

Park, who previously served in Lebanon, successfully led an evacuation operation that brought 97 South Korean nationals and their family members back home amid the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in October last year.

The task force launch came as Seoul is making all-out efforts to tackle the crimes targeting its nationals in Cambodia following public shock over the brutal torture death of a South Korean college student.

A separate joint government response team from Seoul is also set to depart for Cambodia on Wednesday night to address the situation and work on plans to repatriate some 60 South Koreans detained in Cambodia over their alleged involvement in the scams.

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