PHNOM PENH – Cambodia will deport on Friday 59 South Koreans who worked in cyberscam schemes, police said, after Seoul sent a team to investigate the fate of dozens of its nationals.
“Authorities plan to deport 59 South Korean nationals… who have been rescued by Cambodian authorities or detained for other crimes to their country with cooperation from the embassy of South Korea,” Cambodia’s national police said in a statement on Thursday.
South Korea banned its nationals on Wednesday from travelling to parts of Cambodia and sent a government team to the Southeast Asian country to discuss cases of fake jobs and scam centres involved in kidnapping dozens of its citizens.
Seoul said about 1,000 South Koreans are estimated to be among a total of around 200,000 people working in scam operations in Cambodia.
Some are forced under threat of violence to execute “pig butchering” scams — cryptocurrency investment schemes that build trust with victims over time before stealing their funds.
Organised crime groups running the scams have targeted victims worldwide, causing billions of dollars in losses annually.
Seoul’s mission to Cambodia followed a public outcry in South Korea over the killing of a Korean college student in Cambodia who was reportedly kidnapped and tortured by a crime ring in August.
Seoul has said 63 South Koreans were believed to have been detained by Cambodian authorities, and officials have vowed to bring them home. – AFP
