Korean Traveler Missing in Paris... No Contact for 2 Weeks

Last Contact Lost After Meeting Acquaintance on 18th Last Month
Embassy Reports Proxy to Police... Providing Consular Assistance

A Korean man in his 30s has gone missing, and his family is seeking help.

A Korean man traveling in Paris, France, has been reported missing for over two weeks. In response, the Korean Embassy in France and other authorities have begun efforts to locate him.

The 30-year-old man, Kihoon Kim (born in 1993), entered France from India around the 17th of last month. On the afternoon of the 18th, he met an acquaintance in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, but contact was lost starting the evening of the 19th.

Following this, the Korean Embassy in France received a report from the missing person's family and filed a proxy report with the French police. On the 2nd (local time), the embassy posted Kim's photo and personal information on its website and social media (SNS), stating, "The family is desperately searching; anyone who knows his whereabouts or has seen him is asked to contact us."

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "Since receiving the news of the lost contact, we have been providing necessary consular assistance to the family."

Overseas incidents involving Koreans surge as international travel increases post-COVID

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as the COVID-19 pandemic ended and demand for overseas travel exploded, incidents and accidents involving Koreans abroad, including disappearances, have also sharply increased.

Data released by the Ministry in September last year showed that in the first half of 2023 (January to June), 7,294 overseas Koreans suffered losses such as lost items, theft, and traffic accidents. This represents a 44.4% increase (2,244 people) compared to 5,050 victims during the same period in 2022.

By type, loss of items was the most common with 2,478 cases, followed by theft (1,220), fraud (446), traffic accidents (345), assault and injury (277), missing persons (207), and distress incidents (92). Regarding violent crimes, there were 64 robbery victims and 38 cases of kidnapping and confinement. The number of homicide victims in the first half of the year was 19, surpassing the total number of victims (17) for the previous year.

By country of occurrence, among Asia-Pacific countries, Vietnam had the highest number of victims at 633, followed by China with 581 and the Philippines with 523. In the Americas, the United States had 589 victims, Latin America 181, and Canada 143. In Europe, a total of 2,414 victims were recorded.

As domestic and international exchanges have become more active, the number of victims this year is also expected to increase significantly compared to the previous year, calling for caution. In May last year, a man in his 40s who traveled to the Philippines for tourism went missing during a diving experience and was found dead the following day.