Seoul: Police announced on Monday that they have sought arrest warrants for 58 suspects recently repatriated from Cambodia due to their alleged involvement in online scams. Sixty-four individuals were brought back from Cambodia on Saturday, with one suspect immediately apprehended upon arrival due to a pre-issued warrant.
According to Yonhap News Agency, among the remaining suspects, four were released shortly after, and one was released following the prosecution's denial of the police's request for an arrest warrant. The National Police Agency (NPA) stated that courts were expected to hold arrest warrant hearings for most of the 58 individuals still in custody, with results anticipated by Monday evening.
The 58 suspects are distributed across different regional offices for investigation. The NPA's South Chungcheong Province office is handling 45 suspects, and the North Gyeonggi Province office is responsible for 15 suspects, including those already released. Additionally, four suspects are under investigation by the offices in Daejeon, Gimpo, Wonju, and Seoul's Seodaemun.
Investigations by the South Chungcheong office focus on scams, including romance scams, that occurred between late last year and July. Meanwhile, the North Gyeonggi office is examining romance scams reported from March to April. The NPA has designated these two offices as the primary investigation agencies following notification from Cambodian authorities about their crackdown on local voice phishing call centers and the detention of South Korean nationals involved in these activities.
The police reported that some of the repatriated suspects claimed they were detained and assaulted by scam rings in Cambodia. All 64 suspects consented to drug tests, which all returned negative.
In an effort to enhance cooperation, South Korean and Cambodian police have agreed to establish a 24-hour hotline to prevent crimes targeting South Korean nationals. During a meeting in Seoul between Yoo Jae-seong, acting chief of the NPA, and his Cambodian counterpart, Chea Peou, both parties decided to commence discussions on operating the hotline this week. The meeting also covered plans to actively crack down on scams targeting Koreans and conduct joint investigations, with an agreement on the necessity of a joint response task force.