64 South Koreans Detained in Cambodia Return Home Under Arrest

Sixty-four South Koreans detained in Cambodia for alleged involvement in cyber scam operations were returned to Seoul under arrest on Saturday, according to police officials. The repatriation marks a significant development amid growing public outrage in South Korea over a string of violent crimes linked to online fraud networks operating in Southeast Asia.

A police spokesperson confirmed that 64 nationals arrived at Incheon International Airport on a chartered flight from Phnom Penh. The group was immediately arrested on board the aircraft before disembarking.

“All 64 have been taken into custody as criminal suspects upon arrival at Incheon Airport and will be transferred to police stations with jurisdiction over their respective cases,” the official said.

Television footage showed the suspects—many wearing masks and caps—being led through the airport arrival hall, two officers escorting each individual with their arms locked on either side. Most appeared to be handcuffed, their restraints discreetly covered with cloth.

South Korea had dispatched an investigative delegation to Cambodia on Wednesday to coordinate with local authorities on cases involving fake job postings, fraudulent call centres, and kidnapping incidents targeting Korean nationals.

Officials in Seoul had previously estimated that around 60 South Koreans were detained in Cambodia over alleged cybercrime offences. Saturday’s repatriation followed an official pledge to bring them home safely.

The suspects are believed to be involved in a range of organised scam activities, including:

• Voice phishing operations
• Romance and investment frauds
• “No-show” booking scams
• Cryptocurrency-related “pig butchering” schemes

Park Sung-joo, head of the National Office of Investigation, said at the airport: “The repatriated individuals are implicated in various cybercrime operations. There are also suspicions of drug use in Cambodia, so all those returned will undergo drug testing as a standard procedure.”

National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac stated earlier that the detainees included both “voluntary and involuntary participants” in the fraudulent schemes, suggesting that some individuals may have been forced into criminal activity under threat.

Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jina thanked Cambodian authorities for their cooperation, noting that Seoul “confirmed Phnom Penh’s ongoing efforts to crack down on such criminal activities and commitment to close collaboration with our country.”

According to Seoul, approximately 1,000 South Koreans are believed to be among 200,000 people engaged in scam operations in Cambodia—an industry estimated to generate billions in illicit revenue annually.

Many workers in these networks are reportedly coerced through threats, violence, or debt bondage into carrying out scams, particularly cryptocurrency fraud designed to exploit victims over time.

Amnesty International has condemned Cambodia’s scam compounds for widespread human rights abuses, reporting that criminal groups operate at least 53 major compounds across the country. These sites are alleged to involve:

Cambodia’s Anti-Cybercrime Commission said authorities had arrested 3,455 online fraud suspects from 20 Asian and African nations since late June. Dozens of alleged ringleaders and accomplices have been sent to court on charges of online fraud, murder, and human trafficking.

More than 2,800 foreign nationals have been deported, and several victims were “rescued from trafficking situations,” the commission said.

The mass repatriation follows the torture and killing of a South Korean university student in Cambodia earlier this year—a case that provoked national shock and condemnation. The student was reportedly kidnapped and tortured by a crime ring before his body was found in a pickup truck on 8 August.

An autopsy revealed he had died from severe torture, with multiple bruises and injuries across his body, according to a Cambodian court statement.

In a separate case, a Korean woman was found dead near the Vietnam–Cambodia border on 8 October, prompting joint investigations by South Korean and Vietnamese authorities.

Experts warn that Southeast Asia’s cyber scam industry is rapidly expanding, fuelled by weak enforcement, cross-border trafficking, and lucrative cryptocurrency fraud.

With thousands of victims coerced into online fraud across Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos, regional governments are now under pressure to strengthen cooperation and dismantle the criminal networks exploiting vulnerable migrants.

South Korea’s latest arrests mark a significant step in addressing its citizens’ involvement—both voluntary and forced—in this expanding web of digital crime, human trafficking, and violence.