Korea-led international police network expands to 52 countries; principles adopted for joint action against scam crimes

[Financial News] The International Investigative Cooperation Association (IICA), led by South Korean police, has expanded its membership to 52 countries within a year of its launch and established basic principles for jointly combating overseas scam crimes. It aims to develop the investigative cooperation countries have pursued individually into a system of regular joint operations.
According to the Korean National Police Agency on the 23rd, a resolution on responding to transnational scam crimes was adopted at the first IICA general assembly, held at Songdo Convensia in Incheon from the 21st through the 23rd. Around 100 officials from 26 countries across five continents—Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas and Oceania—and six international organizations attended the meeting.
IICA is a consultative body launched in October last year under the leadership of the Korean National Police Agency to jointly tackle crimes that span multiple countries, including overseas scams and human trafficking. Nine countries and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), among others, participated at the time; within a year, the number of participating countries had grown to 52.
The resolution provides for member countries to take turns serving as the chairing country and for an operational secretariat to be established at the National Police Agency of the Republic of Korea. The members also agreed to hold joint operations regularly. This formalizes as shared operating principles the cooperation between countries that had previously been conducted on an individual basis.
Fifteen countries, including South Korea, Germany, the United States, Singapore and Australia, along with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and AFRIPOL, co-signed the resolution. Ten countries, including Japan, France, Canada and Cambodia, as well as INTERPOL and ASEANAPOL, expressed their support.
The resolution is a political declaration with no legal force. However, some countries needed to complete internal procedures, such as consulting relevant ministries or obtaining approval from their home governments, and participated by expressing support rather than co-signing. China, Kyrgyzstan, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and AMERIPOL participated as observers.
Results of joint investigations conducted through IICA were also announced. In the international joint operation Breaking Chains, led by the Korean National Police Agency, participating countries shared 116 pieces of case information and 227 investigative leads through three joint operational meetings.
The Korean National Police Agency said that, based on this information, it had arrested 132 suspects by September and repatriated 73 of them to South Korea. Breaking Chains is a joint operation in which investigative agencies from different countries work together to combat overseas scams and human trafficking.
The government is currently operating a Pan-Government Task Force for Special Response to Transnational Crime, involving 10 agencies. Within the task force, police are responsible for international cooperation and have pursued initiatives including operating a Korea task force in Cambodia and carrying out large-scale repatriations using chartered planes.
The Korean National Police Agency plans to expand the number of countries participating in international cooperation through IICA and strengthen joint responses to transnational crime.
Acting Korean National Police Agency Commissioner General Kim Jong-cheol said, “The consultative body that started with nine countries a year ago has now become a cooperation network linking five continents,” adding, “No matter where criminal organizations targeting our citizens are in the world, we will work with police in each country to track them down and arrest them to the very end.”


[email protected] Kim Ye-ji Reporter