SEOUL: Following the death of a South Korean university student in Cambodia in August, fears are escalating in South Korean society regarding overseas employment scams, with the government set to step up efforts to combat a surge in violent crimes targeting South Korean nationals.
On Aug 8, a South Korean university student in his 20s — identified by the surname Park — was found dead in Kampot, Cambodia, around three weeks after Park told his family in South Korea that he would be attending a local job expo in the
Authorities believe he was lured by a fraudulent job offer, held captive and ultimately killed.
On Oct 13, authorities added that they are investigating another report of a South Korean man in his 30s who was reported to be missing after losing touch with family on Aug 22, three days after leaving for the South-East Asian country.
According to police officials, the man briefly contacted his family via a Telegram video call on Aug 24, saying he could be released if they wired him 20 million won (S$18,000).
The two incidents are among a growing number of abductions of South Korean nationals in Cambodia, which have recently become alarmingly common.
According to the Foreign Ministry, reports of South Koreans being held against their will in Cambodia had already reached 330 cases for this year as of August, a significant jump from 17 cases in 2022, which had jumped to 220 in 2023.
Many of these crimes begin with fake recruitment notices offering high-paying, easy jobs abroad. Victims are told they can earn millions of won a month doing simple translations or computer tasks without the need for qualifications. To gain trust, scammers may offer to cover airfare and additional travel costs.
Authorities believe that once victims arrive in Cambodia, criminal groups seize their passports, phones and valuables before confining them and forcing them into online scams such as voice phishing, cryptocurrency fraud and romance scams.
Since July, the Foreign Ministry began distributing warnings to South Korean travellers urging them to be skeptical of job offers from acquaintances, placing emphasis on avoiding offers that promise high pay or prepaid airfare, verifying job details with local representatives and never signing documents without fully understanding them.
To improve authorities’ emergency response, South Korea asked Cambodian authorities to allow police action based solely on the victim’s identity and presumed location — a change from the current policy requiring victims to report the case directly.
However, according to the South Korean National Police Agency’s acting Chief Yoo Jae-seong during a press briefing on Oct 13, cooperation between South Korean and Cambodian police has been “relatively less smooth” than it has been with other countries.
According to the KNPA, South Korean authorities have sent multiple requests to Cambodian police asking for rapid investigative cooperation, including participation in an autopsy of the university student found dead in Kampot and access to relevant case records.
Cambodian authorities reportedly responded that such requests must go through formal mutual legal assistance procedures, which the KNPA has said are time-consuming and require clearance through both countries’ justice and foreign ministries.
“If there are ways to apply pressure through organisations like Interpol, we’ll pursue them,” Mr Yoo said on Oct 13.
“It’s difficult to secure effective cooperation if the other side is unwilling, but we will keep pushing through direct visits, international channels and diplomatic pressure.”
During a bilateral meeting with high-ranking Cambodian police officials on Oct 23, the KNPA added that Yoo plans to urge “stronger countermeasures” to curb the rise in crimes targeting South Korean nationals, including setting up a “Korean Desk,” or a help desk within the Cambodian police station for South Korean nationals, and dispatching South Korean police officers to Cambodia.
Meanwhile, out of the three Chinese nationals suspected of killing Park in Cambodia, one of them may have played a central role in a high-profile drug distribution case in Seoul’s Daechi-dong in 2023, according to local media reports.
The reports cite findings from Cheonma — a volunteer group that monitors crimes targeting South Koreans overseas — which identified a 34-year-old Chinese man known by the surname Li as the prime suspect in Park’s death.
Li is also believed to have been the chief distributor of drug-laced drinks in Daechi-dong, southern Seoul, where narcotics-laced beverages were handed out to students near cram schools in April 2023. - The Korea Herald/ANN
