Dozens of South Koreans arrested after repatriation from Cambodia for scams

About 50 South Koreans repatriated from Cambodia have been formally arrested on accusations that they worked for online scam organisations in the Southeast Asian country.

They are among the 64 South Koreans who were detained in Cambodia over the past several months and were flown to South Korea on a charter flight Saturday. Upon arrival, they were detained while police investigated whether they voluntarily joined scam organisations in Cambodia or were forced to work there.

Online scams, many based in Southeast Asian nations, have risen sharply since the Covid-19 pandemic and produced two sets of victims: the tens of thousands of people who have been forced to work as scammers under the threat of violence, and the targets of their fraud. Monitoring groups say online scams earn international criminal gangs billions of dollars annually.

The Korean National Police Agency said Tuesday that local courts have so far issued warrants to arrest 49 of the 64 returnees. It said a court will review whether to approve arrests of 10 others on Tuesday. Police earlier said those 59 people were accused of engaging in online fraud activities like romantic scams, bogus investment pitches or voice phishing, apparently targeting fellow South Koreans at home.

The police agency said five people have been set free, but it refused to disclose the reasons for their releases, saying investigations are still underway.

South Korean police said four of the 64 returnees told investigators that they were beaten while being held in scam centres in Cambodia against their will.

South Korea faces public calls to take stronger action to protect its nationals from being forced into overseas online scam centres, after one was found dead in Cambodia in August. He was reportedly lured by a friend to travel to Cambodia to provide his bank account to be used by a scam organisation. Authorities in Cambodia said the 22-year-old university student was tortured.

Estimates from the UN and other international agencies say that at least 100,000 people have been trafficked to scam centres in Cambodia, with a similar number in Myanmar and tens of thousands more in other countries. Officials in Seoul estimate some 1,000 South Koreans are in scam centers in Cambodia.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Monday that 10 additional South Koreans were detained by Cambodian police on alleged involvement in scam operations there. He said that two other South Koreans held in scam centres in Cambodia were rescued. Ministry officials said the 12 people were to be brought home later this week.

Last week, South Korean authorities imposed a travel ban on parts of Cambodia and sent a government delegation to Cambodia to discuss joint steps.

Online scam centres were previously concentrated in Southeast Asian countries including Cambodia and Myanmar, with most of the trafficked and other workers coming from Asia. But an Interpol report in June said the past three years have seen victims trafficked to Southeast Asia from distant regions including South America, Western Europe and Eastern Africa and that new centres have been reported in the Middle East, West Africa and Central America.