Cambodia is in Korean news daily. Here's how Cambodian officials, citizens are responding to scrutiny

Concerns are growing in Cambodia that South Korea’s hardline response to a series of crimes targeting its nationals could strain diplomatic relations between the two countries.

“The Korean leader’s diplomatic pressure helps nothing. Instead, it makes the relationship between the two countries unhealthy,” said Kin Phea, director of the International Relations Institute at Cambodia’s state-run Royal Academy, in an interview with The Phnom Penh Post.

“Only cooperation at the regional and international levels can prevent them. It’s not just happening in Cambodia,” he added.

The comments come after South Korean President Lee Jae Myung ordered relevant ministries to use “all available resources” to rescue citizens kidnapped in Cambodia in connection with online job scams. The directive followed the torture and death of a 22-year-old Korean student, a case that shocked the nation and triggered public outrage.

On Friday, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun summoned the Cambodian ambassador to Seoul, while a special government response team headed by Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jin-a was dispatched to Phnom Penh on Wednesday.

Amid intensifying anger at home, some lawmakers have gone as far as to call for military measures.

“We must show the world that anyone who commits crimes or terrorism against Koreans will be punished to the end,” ruling party Rep. Lee Eon-ju wrote on social media Sunday. “If Cambodia responds passively, we should consider self-help measures, including military action, to protect our citizens.”

The Cambodian government has so far responded cautiously. Interior Ministry spokesperson Touch Sokhak said that Cambodia, too, is a victim of international crime networks.

“If these crimes affect our relations, then it presents an opportunity for international organized crime to flourish,” Sokhak told The Phnom Penh Post on Monday. “What we want is (Korea’s) understanding that Cambodia, too, was a victim of this crime.”

Sokhak added that cyber fraud operations targeting South Koreans were not isolated incidents and that similar or worse cases were occurring elsewhere in the world.

“Countries must cooperate rather than act on emotion or take advantage of the suffering of their citizens. Shifting blame onto one country merely helps criminals continue their activities,” he said in a televised briefing on Tuesday.

Some Cambodians echoed the government’s frustration. “We feel sorry that the Korean leader did not differentiate between scam operations and tourism,” said Seam Sokkheng, president of the Korean Tourist Guide Association in Cambodia, to local media.

Sokkheng added that the Korean government should do more to educate Koreans on how to better recognize scams. “It is sad that they generalized the Cambodia situation that way.”

Still, frustration is also mounting inside Cambodia over what some see as complacency toward organized crime.

“The Ministry of Interior seems to have made no effort at all to target online criminals,” read one Khmer-language comment on the ministry’s official Facebook page. “Only when a Korean dies does the ministry issue a statement.”

Another user wrote, “Cambodian workers continue to be insulted and discriminated against, especially in Korea. Many employers refuse to accept Cambodian workers. We hope the government will resolve this issue to prevent further anger (in Korea) toward us.”

In an apparent bid to counter negative perceptions, Cambodia’s Interior Ministry on Wednesday posted a series of interview videos featuring Korean residents, saying it aimed to “show Koreans and the world the experience of living in Cambodia.”

“The life I see and live here every day feels very different from what is on the news,” said Hwang Hoo-in, a Korean cafe owner who has lived in Cambodia for 13 years, in one of the videos.

According to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry, there have been at least 330 suspected cases of abduction, confinement or disappearance involving South Koreans in Cambodia between January and August this year. Public anger spiked in August when a Korean university student surnamed Park was found dead near Bokor Mountain in Kampot Province after being kidnapped and tortured. Cambodian police have since arrested three suspects in connection with the case.