26 South Koreans arrested in joint Cambodia raid, one victim rescued

Twenty-six South Korean nationals have been arrested in a joint police operation at a suspected scam centre in eastern Cambodia, while one Korean victim was rescued from confinement, authorities in Seoul said on Sunday.

The raid was carried out on Thursday by a combined team of South Korean and Cambodian police at a site in Mondulkiri province, close to the Cambodia–Vietnam border. According to South Korea’s National Police Agency (NPA), those detained are suspected of involvement in online scam operations.

Police also freed a man in his 20s who had been held at the compound and subjected to torture. The operation involved around 40 Cambodian police officers and four officers from South Korea, the NPA said.

The action is part of a broader effort by Seoul to tackle crimes targeting South Korean nationals in Cambodia, particularly online fraud and voice phishing. The crackdown intensified after a South Korean university student, lured to a scam centre, was tortured and died in Cambodia in August.

So far this month, a joint Seoul–Phnom Penh task force has arrested 92 suspected scammers and rescued two Korean victims. An NPA official said close cooperation between the two countries would continue, with authorities stepping up operations against organised scam networks.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung praised the officers involved in the raid and reaffirmed his government’s commitment to international cooperation. In a post on X, he thanked the team for completing their mission despite dangerous conditions and pledged stronger global partnerships to dismantle transnational crime syndicates.

On Friday, South Korea’s presidential office said 107 nationals suspected of involvement in scam activities in Cambodia have been repatriated since October. The wider campaign began that month after Lee ordered the creation of a special response team involving police, intelligence agencies and the foreign and justice ministries.

As of November, a total of 154 South Korean suspects had been arrested in Cambodia, including those awaiting repatriation, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said. Officials also reported a sharp drop in cases of Koreans being confined or reported missing in Cambodia, falling from 93 in October to 17 in November.

The South Korean government has vowed to maintain a tough stance on transnational crimes, saying it will continue to act firmly against networks that threaten the safety and security of its citizens abroad.

With IANS inputs