Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Kingdom of Cambodia

When it comes to Cambodia, it seems that many people still remember it as a country with Angkor Wat or a country of the movie Killing Fields (extreme communism in the 1970s). However, with the foundation of the Kingdom of Cambodia in 1993, a constitutional monarchy with the king as the head of state was adopted like the UK and Japan. 

Since then, based on political stability, it has actively carried out activities for incorporation into the international community, such as joining ASEAN, ASEM, WTO, WB, IMF, and RCEP. It is a country that is emerging as a new attention-seeking country in ASEAN by realizing high economic growth of 7% on average per year before COVID 19.

Diplomatic relations between Korea and Cambodia were temporarily severed after diplomatic relations were established in 1970, but diplomatic relations were restored in 1997, and cooperation between the two countries has been strengthened in various fields such as politics, economy, development cooperation, and culture over the past 25 years. 

In 2022 alone, there were high-level exchanges, such as President Seok-Yeol Yoon's visit to Cambodia on the occasion of the Korea-ASEAN Summit, Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia, and Senator Sai Cho-heum's visit to Korea. Trade between the two countries has reached a scale of 1 billion dollars, and Korea's cumulative investment in Cambodia has exceeded 4.8 billion dollars. 

In the field of development cooperation, Cambodia ranked 4th out of 127 free development cooperation countries in Korea, and 19 projects are underway in Cambodia with the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF). About 300 Korean companies in the fields of manufacturing, finance, construction, and real estate are active in Cambodia, and there are about 10,000 Korean residents. Various cultural events such as K-POP performances, Korean film festivals, and Taekwondo competitions are also held every year.

Although exchanges and cooperation between the two countries have shrunk due to COVID-19, they are recently recovering, and in an environment where the global supply chain is being reorganized due to strategic competition between the US and China, it is an important time to newly develop Korea-Cambodia cooperative relations. 

Within the framework of the government's Indo-Pacific Strategy and Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Cooperation Initiative, Korea's industrial competitiveness and development experience should be linked with Cambodia's young and abundant labor force and natural resources to deepen and expand cooperation between the two countries. 

In particular, the Korea-Cambodia FTA, the fourth FTA signed with an ASEAN member country after Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia, took effect in December 2022. It will be a new opportunity if the Cambodian government's square strategy and foreign investment attraction policy are combined with FTA.

The Embassy of the Republic of Korea will do its best to ensure the rights and interests of the Korean people and to support the activities of Korean companies for the continuous development of cooperative relations between the two countries. Thank you for your support.