Foreign Minister Cho Hyun has held a virtual meeting with heads of South Korean diplomatic missions in Southeast Asia to discuss measures to combat transnational crime, including employment fraud and illegal confinement targeting South Korean nationals.

According to the foreign ministry on Saturday, the meeting brought together the heads of 12 diplomatic missions in Southeast Asia, including embassies in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, the Philippines, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Indonesia.

Emphasizing President Lee Jae Myung’s directive to mobilize a full-scale response to tackle transnational crime, the minister called for closer cooperation with host countries to effectively respond to the problem.

Minister Cho also announced plans to increase staffing at diplomatic missions, adding consular officers, administrative staff and consular assistants, to ease the workload of missions that combat crimes against South Koreans.

Participants in the meeting agreed to build networks with local diplomatic, intelligence and law enforcement authorities, and to pursue multilateral cooperation across the region to prevent what many call the “balloon effect,” in which intensified crackdowns in one country push criminal operations into neighboring countries.