SEOUL: Two South Koreans who were held captive in Cambodia in scam-related incidents have been rescued in separate operations conducted through cooperation between South Korean and Cambodian authorities, police said Sunday (May 17).
Yonhap news agency reported a man in his 30s, who has a disability, traveled to Cambodia via Vietnam after seeing a social media post advertising special recruitment opportunities for people with disabilities.
But he failed to obtain a job and was subsequently held captive in a hotel in the Cambodian city of Sihanoukville.
After a botched attempt to escape, he suffered abuse and threats demanding that he pay US$20,000 before being rescued on May 7, according to police.
South Korean police are conducting follow-up investigations into brokers and others who lured the victim to Cambodia using the fake job posting.
Separately, another captivity report was filed in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on May 10.
A South Korean woman in her 20s had traveled to Cambodia to meet a Chinese man she had met online, but she was later confined and threatened with messages saying she would not be released unless money was paid.
After the report was filed, the Korean Desk, which is a joint South Korea-Cambodia police task force, launched an operation and rescued her the following day while arresting the Chinese suspect.
"Kidnapping and unlawful confinement cases disguised as overseas job placement opportunities continue to occur in South-East Asian countries such as Cambodia. Extreme caution is needed," said Park Joon-sung, acting head of the International Cooperation Bureau under the Korean National Police Agency.
In November last year, South Korea and Cambodia formed the joint team tasked with handling crimes involving South Koreans in the South-East Asian country following public outcry over the torture death of a Korean college student in the country in August who allegedly fell victim to a job scam. - Bernama-Yonhap
