Acting Commissioner General Yoo Jae Sung (ninth from left in front row) of the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) on Nov. 11 poses for a group photo at the global conference Breaking Chains at KNPA headquarters in Seoul's Seodaemun-gu District. The event that day sought to raise collaboration in cross-border crimes such as scams and human trafficking with the national police agencies of 16 countries like the U.S., China, Japan and Cambodia. (Yonhap News)

By Yoo Yeon Gyeong

The Korean National Police Agency on Nov. 11 hosted a meeting on international cooperation to jointly respond to transnational scams and other crimes with counterparts from 16 countries like the U.S., China, Japan and Cambodia.

Ending the next day, the two-day event in Seoul was the first in-person talks of their kind led by Korea to promote joint operation to counter such crimes as well as human trafficking.

The KNPA said the conference's name "Breaking Chains" conveyed the intent of police agencies to free victims of cross-border crimes from the chains of crime.

The 16 participating countries were Korea, Laos, Malaysia, the U.S., Brunei, Vietnam, the U.K., Indonesia, Japan, China, Cambodia, Canada, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia and the United Arab Emirates. Also joining were Interpol, ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Chiefs of Police, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

In the meeting, participating countries shared data on 75 leads in 24 selected cases of organized crime including those involving scams and cyber offenses and discussed cooperation like in arresting and extradition of suspects. In eight cases of mob organizations for which sufficient evidence was available, they discussed joint measures to arrest suspects and rescue victims.

"This meeting on operations for international cooperation is an important starting point for the international community to take the cooperative framework to the implementation stage to respond to transnational crimes," said Lee Jae Young, director general of the KNPA's Information Cooperation Bureau. "Through close cooperation with each country, police of the Republic of Korea will take the lead in achieving tangible progress in eradicating criminal gangs and protecting the victims."

dusrud21@korea.kr