SEOUL— In a dramatic and sweeping operation, South Korea repatriated 64 of its nationals from Cambodia this weekend, most of whom are suspected of involvement in massive, organized online fraud and scam rings based in Southeast Asia. The large-scale return, executed via a chartered flight, marks Seoul’s largest single-country criminal repatriation and signifies an urgent escalation in the government’s crackdown on a transnational crime crisis.
The returnees, who arrived at Incheon International Airport on Saturday morning, were immediately arrested upon landing and escorted by more than 190 police officers to face criminal investigations across the country.
From Victims to Suspects: The Scammer Dilemma
The move follows a month of intense public outrage in South Korea, sparked by the torture and death of a young South Korean college student who had been lured to Cambodia with a fake job offer and then allegedly forced into a scam center.
The repatriation involves two categories of individuals: those who were rescued after being lured, trafficked, and confined against their will, and a much larger group who are now considered criminal suspects in fraud schemes such as voice phishing, romance scams, and illegal investment ploys. Authorities have issued arrest warrants for the majority of the repatriated individuals.
Crucially, authorities face the complex task of distinguishing between genuine victims and willing participants. Officials estimate that as many as 1,000 South Koreans may be working in Cambodia’s burgeoning scam industry, which generates billions of dollars annually for international criminal organizations.
High-Level Response and Diplomatic Action
The operation was the result of a high-level joint task force dispatched by the South Korean government, which met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet to secure cooperation.
- Bilateral Cooperation: The two countries agreed to institutionalize a Joint Scam Crime Response Task Force and commit to a swift exchange of information and evidence for future cases.
- Travel Ban: In response to the crisis, Seoul issued its highest “code-black” travel ban for parts of Cambodia, including the region where the student’s body was discovered.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has ordered the urgent removal of all illegal online job advertisements across Southeast Asia to stop citizens from falling into the trap of lucrative but bogus job offers that lead to confinement and forced labor in these criminal compounds.
Investigators will now work to dismantle the structure, scale, and networks behind these elaborate scams, a process that is expected to reveal the full extent of South Korean involvement—both as victims and perpetrators—in the dark underbelly of transnational cybercrime.