South Korea has issued its most serious travel warning for parts of Cambodia, issuing a “code black” ban that orders citizens to leave areas in which the government has identified surging employment scams and detention cases targeting its nationals.
The travel prohibition covers the border towns of Poipet and Bavet, along with the Bokor Mountain region in Kampot province, 140km south-west of Phnom Penh, where a 22-year-old Korean student was allegedly tortured to death in August.
About 60 South Koreans remain detained by Cambodian authorities after a crackdown on scam operations, while another 80 cannot be accounted for, officials said.
“We are making efforts to ensure repatriation by this weekend,” said South Korea’s top security adviser, Wi Sung-lac, who has formed an emergency taskforce to retrieve citizens affected by the scams.
However, the government has acknowledged the complex nature of the crisis, noting that returnees will face “investigation and judicial measures depending on their level of involvement” in the criminal networks, he said.
The number of kidnappings of South Koreans in Cambodia has soared in recent months. Victims of scams are typically lured with promises of high-paying jobs before being confined in compounds and forced to participate in online fraud operations.
Witness accounts from rescued Koreans reveal the brutal conditions inside the compounds. Victims described being tortured with electric shock devices and “indiscriminately” beaten with metal pipes by Chinese supervisers, according to Yonhap News.
“I don’t know if I fainted or just collapsed from lack of strength, but I couldn’t even scream,” one told the news agency.
One South Korean living in Cambodia told Yonhap that deaths were common and alleged that some victims were sold to organised crime syndicates and allegedly had their organs removed when they could no longer work or have nothing more to extort financially.
A high-level South Korean delegation led by second vice-foreign minister Kim Jina arrived in Phnom Penh on Wednesday evening, accompanied by officials from the justice ministry and police and intelligence agencies.
The team is seeking to coordinate the repatriation of detained Koreans, possibly via charter flight. It is unclear how quickly they can be repatriated, as many are reportedly insisting on remaining in Cambodia.
Separately, Korean authorities are also investigating whether the death of a woman in her 30s found near the Vietnam-Cambodia border last week is connected to the criminal networks.
Labour minister Kim Young-hoon announced plans to meet representatives from recruitment websites to strengthen filtering systems against fraudulent recruitment advertisements.
The crisis has exposed how an estimated 1,000 South Koreans have become entangled in Cambodia’s sprawling scam industry, according to security adviser Wi, who said the sector involves 200,000 people of various nationalities in online operations targeting victims worldwide.
