The student's body was cremated before being returned to South Korea on Oct 21. - Photo: The Korea Herald/ANN
SEOUL: The cremated remains of a South Korean college student who was allegedly tortured and killed in a Cambodian scam compound were repatriated to South Korea on Tuesday (Oct 21) morning, 74 days after he was found dead.
On Oct 21, a Korean Air flight carrying the ashes of the victim, surnamed Park, landed at Incheon Airport at 8.04am (7.04am Malaysia time).
Jang Jin-wook, head of forensic operations at the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA), who led the South Korean authorities’ joint autopsy with Cambodian officials a day earlier, exited the arrivals gate holding the white-shrouded urn.
An official from the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency, leading the investigation into Mr Park’s death, received the remains from Jang at the airport and was to hand them over to the bereaved family later in the day.
Park’s family did not go to the airport, and police did not organise a press briefing out of respect for their wishes.
The repatriation of Park’s remains came just a day after the joint autopsy was conducted in Phnom Penh’s Tuo Totung Pagoda by a team of six investigators from South Korea and Cambodia.
Following the autopsy, the body was cremated before being returned to South Korea on Oct 21.
According to police officials, Park had been lured to Cambodia under false pretences and detained in what the authorities described as a scam compound – part of a widespread criminal network in South-east Asia that forces abducted foreign nationals into committing online fraud.
Park was later found dead in a car near Bokor Mountain in Kampot, with local police stating that his body showed clear signs of torture, including bruises and wounds.
Following the autopsy on Oct 20, South Korean authorities confirmed that there were no signs of organ harvesting or mutilation of Park’s body.
As Park’s exact cause of death is still unclear, authorities added that Park’s exact cause of death will be determined after further pathological and toxicological analysis in South Korea, in combination with the ongoing investigations in both countries.
Of the 59 suspects detained upon their recent entry into South Korea, the KNPA added that 48 individuals have been detained for their alleged involvement in scam-related criminal operations as of Oct 21, after undergoing pretrial detention hearings the day before.
Ten remaining suspects connected to the Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency’s investigations attended warrant hearings at the Uijeongbu District Court on the morning of Oct 21.
They are believed to have taken part in romance scam schemes conducted in March and April of 2025. - The Korea Herald/ANN
