Demand for private investigators rises amid missing persons cases in Cambodia

A building suspected to be part of a criminal compound is seen in Sihanoukville, Cambodia on Oct. 14. [YONHAP]

 
“It usually costs more than 20 million won [$14,000] just to locate a missing person overseas. But how could you ever give up on family?”
 
Bae, a private investigator of eight years and former police officer, says he has been hired to find people who have gone missing in countries such as Cambodia and Thailand. In 2023, he was contacted by a client who asked him to find their father who had traveled to Cambodia and never returned. Upon investigation, Bae discovered that the father had been lured to Cambodia by a woman who suggested a golf trip and was being held captive at a criminal compound in Poipet. Bae and the client rescued the man from a third-floor room of the compound one day at dawn.
 

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Tracking missing persons abroad is considered one of the most difficult types of cases for private investigators, especially because much of the work depends heavily on personal networks with local police, guides and brokers.
 
“There are times when you have to hand over a substantial amount of money to local brokers or guides,” Bae explained. If a Korean investigator has to travel to Cambodia directly, the expenses rise further.
 
With a rise in recent reports of Koreans going missing or being held in criminal compounds in Cambodia, investigators say requests for help have increased two to threefold compared to last year. Cases involving voice phishing and romance scam victims are also on the rise.
 
Analysts believe that growing public anxiety about safety in countries like Cambodia is one reason more people are turning to private investigators. This year alone, police and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received more than 500 missing person reports related to Cambodia. Of these, 162 cases remain unresolved.
 

A Korean Private Investigation Association (PIA) office in Jongno District, central Seoul [PIA]

 
“The families who contact us are often in a panic because one of their loved ones went abroad and then disappeared,” said Kwak, a veteran investigator with 24 years of experience. “Many people come to us expecting faster results than official investigations can deliver.”
 
 
Licensing system called for a growing industry 
 
As demand for private investigators increases, the industry is also growing. Before 2020, private investigators were illegal in Korea.
 
According to the Korean Private Investigation Association, the number of certified investigators it has trained grew from 6,042 in 2020 to 9,827 last year — a roughly 63 percent increase in four years. Including certifications from other associations, around 25,000 people are estimated to be working as private investigators in Korea. This surge followed a 2018 Constitutional Court ruling that allowed the use of the term “investigator.”
 
However, concerns are growing over unregulated agencies that may take advantage of desperate clients. “Families of the missing often pay large sums out of desperation,” Bae said. “There have even been cases where people were told they needed to pay 100 million won to a criminal organization for a rescue, but few of those cases actually lead to anything.”
 
Some experts argue that the government should expand police resources while also introducing a public licensing system for investigators to prevent abuse and ensure oversight. 
 
"A national licensing system with qualification exams and disqualification criteria would allow us to set ethical, professional and supervisory standards," said Choi Soon-ho, head professor of the private investigation department at Seoul Digital University. “In countries like the United States and Japan, such systems help bring investigators into the formal system and cover gaps in law enforcement.”


This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY MOON SANG-HYEOK [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]