Even after the disappearance crisis in Cambodia, the state continues to repeat the same rhetoric. A newspaper left on an empty podium symbolizes a space where accountability has vanished. Graphic by Han-Mi Ilbo

President Lee Jae-myung speaks at every given opportunity: “The state's primary duty is to protect the lives and safety of its people.” However, looking at the ongoing kidnapping, confinement, and disappearance of Korean citizens in Cambodia, those words are nothing more than empty rhetoric floating in the air. The state is nowhere to be found, and all that remains are words without accountability. This administration’s language is the most moral, yet its actions are the most impotent.

This incident first appeared in the media last November, with reports of a young Korean man missing near Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Since then, various media outlets have reported on a series of confinement and assault cases lured by false promises of high-paying jobs abroad, warning that this issue was escalating from simple crime into organized human trafficking. Yet, the government only repeated the same lines: “We are cooperating with local authorities” and “We are verifying the facts.” The media’s warnings rang clearly, but the state did not listen. 

The number of reports skyrocketed this year. There have been over 300 reports of disappearances and confinement filed with the police, and families have personally visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and police stations, pleading for their children to be found. However, the Consular Call Center only offered automated guidance, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded that they were “still tallying the numbers.” Citizens had to become their own rescuers, spreading pleas for help through social media. In the meantime, another young person died after being tortured, and his family returned to Korea after retrieving his remains.

The President’s first reaction came only after the situation had already exploded. On October 11, President Lee Jae-myung ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to respond with all available resources. But hundreds had already gone missing by then. The special travel advisory and the summoning of the ambassador were merely post-hoc measures, forced by the desperate cries of the public. Even more shocking were the remarks from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “The line between victim and perpetrator is not clear.” They viewed the young people, who had been deceived and dragged off by criminal organizations, as subjects of suspicion rather than subjects of protection. That single statement reveals that the government’s moral standards have completely collapsed.

The “lives and safety of the people” touted by the Lee Jae-myung administration are not principles of the Constitution, but slogans for political promotion. His language is always righteous, but the actions those words should reach are hollow. As moral language is repeated, the state becomes increasingly powerless. The Park Geun-hye administration collapsed due to the Sewol ferry disaster but later reformed its disaster response system. The Moon Jae-in administration rescued 390 fellow citizens and collaborators using military transport planes during the withdrawal from Afghanistan. While both those governments faced criticism, they at least existed as tangible entities of a state.

In contrast, the Lee Jae-myung administration is left with only language. The President’s statements are always correct, yet the execution is always late. Phrases like “we are verifying,” “we regret the situation,” and “respond with all resources” are quoted by the media, serving as a substitute for the government’s existence. But language does not save lives. A president who rules by language—that is the portrait of this administration today.

Now the people ask, “O President of moral language, why are we not being saved even when we are held captive?” 

A state exists through action, not words. A state left with only words no longer belongs to its people. A government that ignores safety loses the lives of its people, and a state that ignores human rights loses the trust of its people. 

“Insensitive to safety, insensitive to human rights—does this eventually lead to being insensitive to the people themselves?”

That question is the mirror reflecting the Republic of Korea today.

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