Seoul: A total of 64 South Koreans who had been detained in Cambodia over alleged online scams arrived home early Saturday on a chartered flight, with most facing criminal probes as suspects, police officials said. The large-scale repatriation followed the torture death of a South Korean college student who was lured to Cambodia by a criminal ring, sparking public outrage in South Korea.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Korean Air plane carrying the detainees arrived at Incheon International Airport at 8:35 a.m., about five hours after departing from Techo International Airport near Phnom Penh. Their return came after a South Korean government response team was dispatched to Cambodia to aid nationals implicated in online scams by local crime organizations. The South Korean nationals were reportedly placed under arrest once they boarded the plane and were slated for transport to police stations nationwide for investigations into their alleged criminal activities.
Under South Korean law, detention warrants can be executed inside national flag carriers, as these are considered part of South Korean territory. “Through this visit, we reaffirmed the Cambodian government’s willingness to cooperate and reached an agreement to bolster bilateral cooperation by institutionalizing a joint response task force (for such crimes),” said Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Ji-na, who led the joint government response team addressing the online scam issue. “The government will work to establish an effective system for eradicating online scam crimes in Cambodia targeting South Koreans, and actively utilize the system,” she added.
Park Sung-joo, head of the National Office of Investigation and a member of the response team, informed reporters that Cambodian authorities agreed to “swiftly” notify Seoul of any additional arrests of Korean nationals in its crackdown on online scam rings. The two countries will also exchange evidence related to the scams, such as mobile phones, to aid the initial investigation into the cases, he noted.
In August, a South Korean university student was found tortured and killed in Cambodia, a month after being lured there by a job scam. The incident highlighted the increasing number of nationals being lured to Cambodia with high-paying job offers, only to be forced into online scams targeting South Koreans, often under confinement and violence from crime rings.
The returnees are accused of involvement in online scams at criminal complexes in Cambodia. Of the 64, 59 were detained following a crackdown by Cambodian authorities, while the rest were rescued after reporting their confinement. Most face criminal charges in South Korea, with some under Interpol Red Notices. All were detained by Cambodian immigration authorities, with five more individuals than initially reported by Cambodian police.
This operation marked the largest effort by South Korean authorities to repatriate South Korean criminals from a single foreign country and was the third repatriation operation of its kind. Approximately 190 police officers accompanied the returnees on the flight, given the criminal charges most face. At Incheon International Airport, 23 vehicles were on standby to transport the suspects to police stations.