Seoul: Rival parties clashed Tuesday over the recent surge in crimes targeting South Koreans in Cambodia, with the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) criticizing the government's lax response and the ruling Democratic Party (DP) pointing the finger at the previous administration.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the response from both parties came amid reports of an increasing number of South Koreans being abducted and detained in Cambodia following job scams. A particularly tragic incident involved a university student found dead near Bokor Mountain in Kampot Province in August after being tortured and detained, which sparked public outrage.
PPP floor leader Song Eon-seog emphasized the need for President Lee Jae Myung to take direct action. During a party meeting, Song criticized the government's consideration of setting up a Korean desk or dispatching more consular officials as inadequate. He urged for more proactive measures, such as forming an interagency emergency task force, deploying a special envoy, and holding phone talks with the Cambodian leader. Song highlighted the urgency of these actions, especially since the ambassador post in Phnom Penh remains vacant.
Meanwhile, the DP shifted responsibility to the previous Yoon Suk Yeol government. Han Jeoung-ae, the DP's top policymaker, stated that the Yoon administration had increased official development assistance to Cambodia while neglecting citizen safety. Han criticized the reduction of officials handling transnational crimes and the ignored requests to dispatch more police personnel, noting a sharp increase in reported kidnapping or detention cases from 21 in 2023 to 221 in 2024.
Rep. Kim Young-bae, a DP member of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, supported this criticism, attributing the rise in crimes in Cambodia to the Yoon government's alleged incompetence. Rep. Park Sang-hyuk, the DP's chief aide for communications, called on the PPP to cooperate in addressing the crisis rather than focusing solely on blaming the government.