On August 8, the body of a 22-year-old South Korean university student was discovered in the back of a car in the Bokor Mountain region of Cambodia. Found with his hands bound, an autopsy of the lacerations and bruises on the body suggested that torture—including extreme beatings and electric shocks—was the cause of death.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, pig butchering scams have emerged and grown in scale within Southeast Asian countries. According to a report by the Korean Intelligence Committee on October 22, out of the 20,000 people believed to be involved in operating these networks, an estimated 1000 to 2000 are South Korean. Lured by the promise of high pay, fully funded flights, and five-star accommodations, Koreans have flown to Cambodia, only to be kidnapped to high-security operation facilities where they were forced to participate in defrauding and money laundering activities. Statements from those who escaped revealed that refusing to take part meant being subjected to violence, where they would be hung from the ceiling, electrocuted, or sold to other criminal syndicates.

Reacting to the death of the university student, the Korean government swiftly began talks with the Cambodian government, urging cooperation in prosecuting scam-related crime and imposing a travel ban to parts of the country. The Korean government’s response to its citizens’ involvement in scam-related activities, however, is far from immediate. The SBS documentary series Unanswered Questions spent an entire episode covering this phenomenon on May 7. Yet it was only after there was widespread public attention that the government decided to formally investigate the scam-complexes and address them head-on.

This three-month delay reveals a bigger structural issue underlying the Korean government’s response to issues across society: they turn a blind eye and don’t act until a newsworthy incident occurs. This is indeed not the first time the government has shown alarming negligence. The response to the mass hacking of E-SIMS serviced by SK Telecom was subpar; refusing to speak about the invasion to national security and sovereignty in cyberspace is concerning, especially when so much of Korea’s security infrastructure is online. The fire at the National Information Service Center in late September could have been prevented if the government had conducted regular assessments on old batteries, safety training on handling them, and finished back-up server operations. Yet their procrastination ultimately caused nationwide service congestion, bringing daily life to a halt as key institutions such as banks and public administrative offices were unable to function as usual.

Even with the situation in Cambodia, there are multiple layers of lax management. Although news of the death first broke out on September 25, stronger measures to protect Korean escapees by the Korean embassy were not implemented till as late as mid-October. A report by KBS News on October 18 revealed that one escapee was able to return to Korea only with the help of the news agency. When the escapee had requested help from the embassy, the institution failed to protect him with the shelter or support he needed, leaving him vulnerable to being captured again. Not only that, but talks of a “Korean desk” in Cambodia, in which Korean police officers stay in Cambodia to help investigations and protect Korean citizens against scam-related crimes, began as early as June this year. Yet even now, this hotline has not materialized, and the government is acting as if it is a new proposal that they have only just started pursuing.

Such attitudes undermine the credibility of the government and its capacity to protect the population. It feels absurd to trust government institutions when real progress often seems contingent on tragedy. And this erosion of trust will ultimately culminate in a never-ending cycle of mismanagement. Waning trust fuels political instability and polarization, worsening bureaucratic inefficiency as parties point fingers and exploit crises to blame one another. In the meantime, more citizens will continue to be exposed to harm, as solutions are not proactively discussed or implemented. For a healthier and safer society, the government needs to overcome its inability to act pre-emptively.

As of now, the countermeasures launched by the Korean government to curb its citizens’ involvement in scam complexes attempt to tackle the multi-dimensional nature of the problem. The government’s proposal for operation “Breaking Chains” at ASEANPOL—calling for cooperation between the police forces of ASEAN countries and Korea to crack down on the mega-scam complexes in the region—has received particular praise. Nonetheless, much work remains to be done. Most importantly, the root cause of the issue has not yet been addressed: rising living costs and unemployment in Korea. Of course, tackling youth unemployment and cut-throat competition in the job market requires intensive attention and time. Still, it is disappointing that the government has shown little progress in addressing these underlying drivers, despite clear indicators that they fuel the allure of scam industries. Spreading awareness may help Koreans exercise greater caution. But without fundamental reforms to the labor market, these syndicates will continue to entice vulnerable citizens into the future.