Moon orders special probe into alleged employment fraud in Indonesia

SEOUL, March 7 (Yonhap) -- President Moon Jae-in on Thursday made a special order to launch investigations into the alleged flight of a South Korean company from Indonesia that reportedly did not pay its workers, his office Cheong Wa Dae said.

"In relation to the case involving a delay in the payment of wages, President Moon Jae-in instructed law enforcement to actively cooperate with the investigation by the Indonesian authorities under the extradition treaty," Cheong Wa Dae vice spokeswoman Ko Min-jung told a press briefing.

The order came after a report suggested the South Korean head and managers of a sewing factory in Indonesia may have fled the Southeast Asian country without paying due wages to their Indonesian workers.

Under the president's instruction, the South Korean police will launch its own investigation as soon as it is handed related information from its Indonesian counterpart, Ko said.

President Moon also ordered a special survey of all South Korean businesses in Indonesia to see if any others may be taking advantage of their workers there, according to Ko.

"There must be no additional cases where South Korean companies hurt local workers. Also, our trust and cooperative relationship with the concerned country must not be damaged because of cases such as this," Moon was quoted as saying.

Indonesia, along with the nine other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), is at the focal point of Moon's new foreign policy -- the New Southern Policy -- that is aimed at boosting Seoul's diplomatic and economic cooperation with ASEAN countries.

In 2018, bilateral trade between South Korea and ASEAN countries reached a record high of US$160 billion. Moon has vowed efforts to boost the amount to $200 billion in 2020, making ASEAN his country's second-largest trading partner in the world.

The South Korean president is also set to embark on a trip to three ASEAN countries, Brunei, Cambodia and Malaysia, this Sunday.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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