South Korea bans journey to Cambodia over rip-off facilities – DW – 10/15/2025

South Korea on Wednesday issued a “code-black” journey ban to elements of Cambodia within the wake of the loss of life of a faculty scholar there in August.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry mentioned the ban consists of the Bokor Mountain space in Kampot Province, Bavet City, and Poipet City. 

“South Korean nationals visiting or staying in those areas may be subject to penalties under the Passport Act and other relevant regulations. Citizens planning to travel to such areas are therefore strongly advised to cancel their trips.” 

The case highlighted the rising drawback of pretend job provides resulting in the kidnapping of probably tons of of South Korean residents.

South Korea is now sending a particular crew of investigators to Cambodia to check with authorities there concerning the scenario as pertains to the coed however extra particularly, web rip-off compounds.

1,000 South Koreans believed to be working in rip-off compounds

“It is believed that around 200,000 people of various nationalities are working in Cambodia’s scam industry, which targets victims worldwide, including in South Korea,” National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac informed reporters on Wednesday.  

“A considerable number of South Koreans are also thought to be employed there. While the exact figure is difficult to verify, domestic authorities generally estimate the number at around 1,000.”  

Although Seoul initially reported that 330 South Koreans had gone lacking in Cambodia, it has since revised that quantity all the way down to 80

South Korea believes that 63 of these 80 at the moment are in Cambodian detention after authorities there carried out arrests in reference to the rip-off facilities.

Seoul says it’s “committed to bringing all South Korean nationals back home.”   

“We are arranging a flight to bring them home … We aim to complete this by the end of the week,” mentioned National Security Adviser Wi. 

Of the 63 detained, Wi mentioned there have been each “voluntary and involuntary participants.”   

“Most of them should be regarded as having committed criminal acts” for collaborating within the schemes, he mentioned, no matter their preliminary intentions.

Beating loss of life of South Korea scholar in Cambodia shocks nation

South Korean officers tasked with discussing the rip-off compounds and the repatriation of lacking residents can be accompanied by intelligence and police representatives investigating the current loss of life of the South Korean school scholar. 

Initial investigations and an post-mortem carried out on the coed’s physique, which was discovered within the mattress of a pick-up truck on August 8, concluded that he had “died as a result of severe torture, with multiple bruises and injuries across his body.”

On August 11, three Chinese nationals have been charged with the coed’s homicide in addition to with on-line fraud. The three stay in pretrial detention in Cambodia.

Seoul says that lots of those that find yourself on the rip-off facilities are lured with fraudulent guarantees of high-paying jobs.

However, the greater than 50 rip-off compounds working in Cambodia are organized by legal teams concerned in kidnapping, human trafficking, pressured labor, slavery, deprivation of liberty, and torture.

Rights group Amnesty International says the facilities are working on a “mass scale.”

Seoul’s transfer comes as US, UK crack down on scammers

Late Tuesday, US authorities introduced that that they had seized practically $15 billion (€17.4 billion) in bitcoin and charged UK-Cambodian businessman Chen Zhi with working rip-off facilities exploiting pressured labor to hold out cryptocurrency fraud schemes that netted billions of {dollars}.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) referred to as it the “largest forfeiture action” in DOJ historical past.

The DOJ indictment in opposition to Chen says laborers engaged within the observe of “pig butchering” — that’s, regularly gaining an investor’s belief earlier than stealing their cash — to rake in billions beneath menace of violence in prison-like situations.

Attorney General Pam Bondi mentioned, “Today’s action represents one of the most significant strikes ever against the global scourge of human trafficking and cyber-enabled financial fraud.”

On Tuesday, because the US and UK seized belongings and introduced sanctions in opposition to Chen’s Prince Holding Company, the US Department of Treasury labeled the corporate a transnational legal group.

Chen stays at giant and will withstand 40 years in jail if tried and convicted.

The Treasury Department logged a 66% enhance within the sum of money US residents and companies misplaced to such scams final yr, as much as greater than $10 billion.

Most rip-off facilities are operated out of Cambodia and Myanmar, primarily run by Chinese legal organizations.

AFP reported Tuesday that regardless of an tried crackdown, new militarized name facilities are quickly spreading in Myanmar, the place they’re utilizing Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites to achieve entry to the web.

Edited by: Wesley Rahn