(LEAD) audit agency-foreign ministry

(ATTN: ADDS ministry's response, details in last 4 paras, additional photo)

SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- The foreign ministry failed to raise the travel alert for Cambodia or take other necessary measures in a timely manner, even though it had been aware that job scams targeting South Koreans were worsening in the Southeast Asian nation, the state audit agency said Thursday.

Such crimes sparked public outrage last year after a South Korean college student was tortured to death by a Chinese scam ring in Cambodia, shedding light on a series of similar cases where young South Koreans were lured into the country with promises of high-paying jobs only to end up being kidnapped.

According to the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI), the foreign ministry learned after December 2023 through information from overseas diplomatic missions and private firms that South Koreans were falling victim to job scams and kidnapping in Cambodia, with the nature of the crimes becoming increasingly brutal.

South Korea's Embassy in Cambodia repeatedly suggested to the ministry in April and July 2024 that the travel alert for the country be raised, but the ministry did not do so, citing that the situation fell short of the criteria for a special travel alert or other reasons.

It was only after media outlets reported on these crimes in August that the ministry sought to upgrade the travel alert. The alert was ultimately raised in September only after the student's death became public, according to the audit agency.

The BAI also point out that the ministry should have considered activating a task force for the protection of Korean nationals abroad, yet it failed to even hold a meeting on the matter.

The audit agency advised the ministry to take disciplinary measures against three ministry officials for failing to take necessary measures in time, officials said.

In response, the foreign ministry said it would review the audit findings and draw up measures to prevent similar lapses and improve its system.

"We will work out necessary improvements, including issuing travel alerts in a more timely manner, clarifying the division of responsibilities between overseas diplomatic missions and the domestically operated consular call center and specifying the scope of consular assistance," a ministry official told reporters.

The official noted the ministry has actively responded to transnational crimes, including by participating in a pan-government task forces and leading bilateral and multilateral cooperation with major countries.

The number of South Korean nationals victimized by transnational crimes in Cambodia, including those held captive, fell to 19 in the first three quarters of this year from 386 during the same period last year, government data showed.

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