FILE PHOTO: Police officers escort South Korean deportees suspected of being involved in online scam operations in Cambodia, upon their arrival at the Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, October 18, 2025. - Reuters
SEOUL: Forty-five South Koreans accused of orchestrating large-scale online scams targeting Koreans in Cambodia have been formally indicted and referred to the prosecution, the Chungnam Provincial Police Agency said on Oct 28.
The suspects, all members of an organised crime ring in the South-East Asian country, were extradited to South Korea earlier in October, following a coordinated transnational crackdown on scam syndicates based in Cambodia.
The latest referrals stem from an intensive investigation by police officials in South Chungcheong Province into 45 of 59 individuals deported from Cambodia on Oct 18.
The authorities of South Chungcheong Province said they referred all 45 individuals under their authority to prosecutors as of Oct 28. Together with 10 suspects investigated by the police earlier, this brings the total number of those referred to 55.
The suspects are accused of joining a transnational criminal syndicate led by a Chinese national, known by the alias “Bugeon”, and of defrauding at least 110 Korean victims of nearly 9.3 billion won (US$6.5 billion), through romance scams, voice phishing, cryptocurrency fraud and impersonation-based schemes from mid-2023 through July 2025.
The criminal network reportedly traces its roots to China, where voice phishing scams were first operated in 2018.
Each time crackdowns were conducted by the authorities, their operations shifted to Thailand before eventually reaching Cambodia.
“When the group was finally busted, they were found to be running operations from nine guesthouses rented in Phnom Penh, some surrounded by two-meter-high fences and barbed wire,” said official Jung Sung-hak, who is leading the investigations at the Chungnam Provincial Police Agency.
Of the 45 suspects referred to prosecutors, 25 and 17 were in their 20s and 30s, respectively, while three were in their 40s.
Eighteen of the 45 suspects were already domestically wanted criminals, and one was on Interpol’s red notice list.
Jung added that the organisational hierarchy of the criminal ring was structured under a strict chain of command, “with managers, team leaders and a fixed number of members under each team”.
Team members brought in new recruits by luring them through high-paying job ads or from their personal connections, and some were reportedly recruited after losing significant amounts of money at local casinos during their travels.
Following the indictment of the 45 individuals, police are now working to combine parallel investigations under a single task force, as different investigative agencies nationwide are currently pursuing similar investigations.
The authorities are now also working to pursue key figures who remain at large, including the alleged ringleader, Bugeon.
Officials are also looking into potential ties to domestic Korean criminal groups, as they seek further investigative cooperation from Cambodian and other South-east Asian authorities to dismantle similar transnational scam operations.
At a parliamentary audit session on Oct 28, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said 56 new cases of Koreans being abducted or held captive in Cambodia after being lured by job scams were reported in September.
Taking the September figures into account, the total number of such reports now comes to 386.
“Of the 386 reports filed this year, 296 have been resolved, leaving 90 still pending,” said Cho. “Combining that with the 12 unresolved cases from the 220 reports received last year, there are currently a total of 102 pending cases.”
Cho admitted that the ministry’s previous response measures were based on a traditional consular system, eventually leading to failure in dealing with the increase in transnational crimes.
“The ministry should have sought government-wide efforts to counter such trends,” Cho said.
He added that the Foreign Ministry and Korean police will strengthen coordination with Cambodian authorities and, if needed, dispatch more personnel as part of plans to launch a joint task force to combat transnational scams. - The Korea Herald/ANN
