South Korea will hold a government-civilian meeting this week to craft protective measures for its nationals in the crime-prone Philippines, an official said Tuesday, adding that a fundamental solution remains elusive.

The event is to be held in Seoul on Thursday, attended by representatives from South Korea's law-enforcement authorities and Filipino police officers handling crimes against Koreans. It will also involve heads of ethnic Korean groups there.

It represents a sense of urgency among government officials here over unrelenting local crimes against Korean residents in the Philippines.

Around 88,000 South Koreans live in the Southeast Asian country on a permanent basis, with more than one million others traveling there every year, according to official data.

In particular, a number of elderly Koreans have headed to the English-speaking nation with lower consumer prices after retiring.

They have become a target of such heinous crimes as burglary, kidnapping and murder.

Nine Koreans have been murdered there this year alone. In the latest case, a couple was shot dead last week by an unidentified gunman who broke into their house in the Calabarzon region, south of Manila.

A dilemma is that illegal guns are widespread in the Philippines. Some reports put the number at as many as one million.

The criminal arrest rate is quite low as frequent contract murders are hard to solve.

"We are pushing for various measures, including the installment of more CCTV cameras in areas with many ethnic Koreans," the official told reporters. "Realistically, however, it's hard to find a fundamental solution."

Crimes against foreigners, not just Koreans, have occurred frequently in the nation, he pointed out.

The government will keep pressing Filipino authorities to intensify efforts to swiftly resolve each criminal case against Koreans and continue to publicize the danger in residing there, he added. (Yonhap)