Cambodia’s embassy in Seoul said Friday that it will offer passport services for 60 more days – a change from an announcement earlier this week that angered Cambodian workers in South Korea.
On Wednesday, the Cambodian government said it would stop issuing and renewing passports in South Korea on Aug. 26.
The notice didn’t include a reason, but it came just more than two weeks after overseas Cambodians living in South Korea, Japan, France, Canada and Australia held protests against an economic cooperation agreement with Vietnam and Laos .
Criticism of the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Triangle Development Area, or CLV, has prompted angry comments from Senate President Hun Sen and the arrests of more than 30 people in Cambodia.
Cambodians in South Korea would have to travel to Phnom Penh to apply in person if passport services weren’t available in Seoul.
But that would allow authorities to investigate and detain workers who have been involved in protests in South Korea against the Cambodian government, according to a Cambodian worker who requested anonymity for refused to be named in Korea told RFA
“The targets have already been identified,” he said. “If our passports expire or it is no longer allowed to continue in Korea, it could have a big impact.”
There are about 54,000 Cambodian workers in South Korea employed in construction, agriculture and other industries who annually send home an estimated US$300 million, according to the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights.
"The embassy of Cambodia in South Korea is glad to inform Cambodian people who are living and working in South Korea that upon receiving recommendations from Prime Minister Hun Manet, the embassy will continue to issue regular passports in South Korea for an additional 60 more from Sept. 4 to Nov. 2, 2024, between Wednesday and Sunday," the embassy said in Friday's statement on Facebook.
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Activists have said they're worried the CLV could cause Cambodia to lose territory or control of some of its natural resources to Vietnam.
Hun Manet, Hun Sen and other top ministers have said Cambodia would not lose territory under the CLV, which was first agreed upon by the three countries in 1999.
Reaction in Vietnam
There have been no reported protests in Vietnam over the zone, and a foreign ministry official touted the positives.
“Over 25 years of formation and development, the cooperation of the CLV Development Triangle Area has helped bolster economic, trade, and people-to-people ties among the three countries and also improve the life quality of their peoples, particularly those living in this area,” Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang said at a regular press briefing on Thursday.
She added that Vietnamese officials would continue working closely with Cambodia and Laos ahead of a summit on the CLV scheduled for December in Phnom Penh.
A government official in Laos’ Attapeu province told Radio Free Asia last week that he didn’t know of any Vietnamese or Cambodian investment projects there under the CLV.
The province borders Cambodia’s Ratanakiri and Stung Treng provinces, as well as Vietnam’s Kon Tum province.
Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.