PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – South Korean and Cambodian officials met Thursday to coordinate a response to online fraud following the death of a South Korean student who was allegedly trafficked and forced to work at a fraud center in Cambodia.
A South Korean delegation visited the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to hold talks with officials, including Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.
South Koreans have been outraged by Cambodia’s huge online fraud industry, which uses trafficked workers from different countries to target victims around the world. Officials estimate that about 200,000 people work on fraudulent online sites in Cambodia, including about 1,000 South Koreans.
In August, the body of 22-year-old student Park Min-ho was discovered in a pickup truck in Cambodia’s southern Kampot province. Authorities said he died of cardiac arrest after being tortured and beaten.
The South Korean delegation hopes to repatriate its citizens involved in online fraud in Cambodia and return Park’s remains, South Korea’s national security director Wi Sung-lac said at a briefing in Seoul.
Wi previously said the return of the body was delayed due to disputes over South Korea’s request for an autopsy by pathologists from both countries. He said the two sides had reached an agreement and the results of the talks would be announced later on Thursday.
It was not immediately clear how the 1,000 South Koreans ended up working for online scam sites in Cambodia. But South Korean officials believe many were lured by promises of high-paying jobs before being forced to work against their will, but some also went there voluntarily.
In the first eight months of this year alone, there have been reports of 330 detained South Koreans in Cambodia, Wi said at a briefing earlier on Wednesday, citing reports from the victims themselves and their relatives. Wi said 80% of those cases have been resolved.
The two sides discussed joint efforts to fight transnational crimes including online fraud on Thursday, Hun Manet said in Telegram.
“Cambodia and the Republic of Korea will continue to strengthen our cooperation to more effectively prevent, suppress and combat online fraud and contribute to the maintenance of peace, public order and social security,” he said.
Wi said there would be a limit in South Korea that would only deal with such a multinational online fraud industry based in a foreign country. But he said South Korea will mobilize “all available methods” to protect the security and property of South Koreans and promote coordination with Cambodia, neighboring countries and international organizations.
Hun Manet said that “Cambodia does not need any neighboring country to do such work on its behalf” to deal with online fraud and that the two countries can resolve the matter bilaterally without the need for any third-party involvement.
Wi said South Korea is seeking the timely repatriation of 60 South Koreans arrested recently in Cambodia on suspicion of involvement in online fraud. Once repatriated, they will face investigation and possible legal penalties depending on the extent of their involvement, Wi said.
He said South Korea would also seek to find and bring home South Koreans still listed as missing, including those who may be being held against their will in online fraud centers in Cambodia.
On Thursday, South Korea’s travel ban went into effect for parts of Cambodia including Mount Bokor in Kampot province, where Park Min-ho was found dead, as well as the towns of Bavet and Poipet on Cambodia’s border with Vietnam and Thailand.
The United Nations and other agencies estimate that cyber fraud, most of which originates in Southeast Asia, earns international criminal gangs billions of dollars a year. Cybercriminals pretend to be friends or offer fake investment opportunities to scam their targets around the world.
Jeremy Douglas, former regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, now chief of staff at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said Southeast Asia — particularly the border areas of the Mekong region between Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand — is “probably the most significant global center for fraud and illegal online gaming. earn and stash money with little resistance.”
“It is not clear how governments will respond, but the main thing now is to put together a regional solution. The situation cannot simply be ignored,” Douglas said.
Kim was reporting from Seoul, South Korea.
This article was generated from an automated news agency source without text modification.
