December 18, 2025
SEOUL – South Korea and Laos on Monday signed treaties on criminal justice cooperation to jointly deal with transnational crimes, following a summit in Seoul.
President Lee Jae Myung and Laotian President Thongloun Sisoulith also agreed to elevate bilateral ties to a “comprehensive partnership” and strengthen joint efforts on infrastructure, critical minerals and climate action.
Thongloun was the first Laotian leader to visit South Korea in 12 years, as 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the two reestablishing ties.
Describing Laos as a key partner in South Korea’s critical minerals supply chain with rich natural resources, Lee said at the summit that South Korea will serve as a “reliable partner” in achieving the shared goal of Laos becoming a transport hub in Southeast Asia. Thongloun asked for South Korea’s support for Laos’ economic growth, highlighting that Laos is still among the 44 nations designated by the United Nations as “least developed countries.”
Lee’s spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a briefing that Lee had expressed his hopes for South Korean companies to participate in the Luang Prabang International Airport modernization project, as well as for cooperation in water management and climate action.
The meeting was followed by a ceremony for the signing of two treaties, dedicated to criminal extradition and mutual assistance in criminal justice, respectively, and signed between Cho Hyun, South Korea’s minister of foreign affairs, and Xaysana Khotphouthone, chief of the Supreme People’s Prosecutor Office of Laos.
The criminal extradition treaty will provide legal grounds for the two countries’ authorities to request repatriation of criminals from one another. An additional treaty on criminal justice cooperation will allow for the authorities’ mutual legal assistance by sharing evidence. Lee’s office did not immediately reveal when the treaties would take effect.
According to the presidential office, the treaties will “lay the foundation for the preemptive system to jointly team up to fight transnational crimes.” The policing authorities of the two countries were working to sign a memorandum of understanding for cooperation, while the South Korean Embassy to Laos and the Laotian Ministry of Public Security agreed to establish a hotline to safeguard South Koreans from crime, the presidential office added.
During the closed-door session of Monday’s summit, Thongloun said South Korea has made significant progress in dealing with such crimes with its know-how, according to Kang.
The signing of the treaties was the latest South Korean move to tackle online scam-related crime rings located overseas, particularly as many Koreans have been tricked into phishing scams and abductions, while also calling for joint operations with authorities in Southeast Asian countries.
In November, Lee and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet agreed to establish a South Korean help desk within a Cambodian police station to handle matters involving Korean nationals, in a meeting held in Malaysia on the sidelines of a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. This was a follow-up action to Seoul’s decision to dispatch an interagency response team amid abductions in Cambodia and establish the pangovernmental headquarters.
Along with the treaties, South Korea and Laos also signed a memorandum of understanding to renew Laos’ eligibility to participate in South Korea’s employment permit system, which allows nonprofessional workers of select Asian countries to be hired in South Korea through E-9 visas.
During the summit, Lee presented Thongloun with a replica of a 64-centimeter-tall gilt-bronze incense burner from the Baekje Kingdom believed to have been made in the sixth century.