Dozens of South Koreans allegedly involved in online scams in Cambodia were yesterday returned to South Korea to face investigations in what was the largest group repatriation of Korean criminal suspects from abroad.
The 73 South Korean suspects allegedly scammed fellow Koreans out of 48.6 billion won (US$33 million), South Korea said.
Upon arrival in South Korea’s Incheon International Airport aboard a chartered plane, the suspects — 65 men and eight women — were sent to police stations. Local TV footage showed the suspects, in handcuffs and wearing masks, being escorted by police officers and boarding buses.
Photo: Reuters
They were among about 260 South Koreans detained in a crackdown in Cambodia over the past few months.
“When it comes to crimes that harm our people, we’ll track down and arrest those involved to the very end and get them to face corresponding consequences,” senior police officer Yoo Seung-ryul said.
Public outrage over scam centers in Southeast Asia flared in South Korea when a South Korean student was found dead last summer after reportedly being forced to work at a scam compound in Cambodia.
Authorities at the time said he died after being tortured and beaten, and South Korea sent a government delegation to Cambodia in October for talks on a joint response.
The suspects repatriated include a couple who allegedly operated a deepfake romance scam to dupe 12 billion won from about 100 people in fraudulent investment schemes.
South Korea has made various efforts to bring them back home, including more than 10 rounds of video meetings with Cambodian officials, the South Korean Ministry of Justice said.
At the airport briefing, senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs official Yoo Byung-seok expressed gratitude to the the Cambodian government over the repatriation.
South Korea hoped to continue close bilateral coordination until online scams targeting South Koreans are eradicated in Cambodia, Yoo added.
Cybercrime has flourished in Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia and Myanmar, as trafficked foreign nationals were employed to run romance and cryptocurrency scams, often after being recruited with false job offers and then forced to work in conditions of near-slavery.
Since October, about 130 South Korean scam suspects from Cambodia, as well as more than 20 such Korean suspects from Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines, have been sent back home.
About 60 South Koreans remain detained in Cambodia awaiting repatriation, police said.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung called for stern responses to transnational cybercrimes that he said erodes mutual trust in society and triggers diplomatic disputes with other countries.
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