Yonhap news agency, News1 news agency and the “The Hankyoreh” and other Korean media reported on the 19th that 64 South Koreans were detained in Cambodia on suspicion of online fraud, it arrived at the Korean Incheon International Airport in the early hours of October 18 on a chartered flight from the Tak Chung International Airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This is not only South Korea’s largest operation to escort suspects from abroad, but also the third such operation after the previous two. In order to ensure the whole process of security and order, the ROK sent about 190 police escort at random.
The death of a South Korean university student in Cambodia earlier this month by a fraud ring has drawn intense public attention in South Korea and has become an important opportunity for the two countries to deepen their law enforcement collaboration. Subsequently, the Korean government sent a working group led by the second official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kim jin-me, to Phnom Penh to consult with Cambodia on case response and cooperation mechanisms, laying the foundation for this large-scale repatriation.
South Korea’s presidential office and the National Intelligence Resources Management Institute said, according to speculation, Cambodia’s“Fraud Park” there are still about 1,000 Koreans. According to the latest news from the South Korean police on the 19th, a working group of 7 people including investigators and forensic doctors set off for Cambodia that night, will be 20 am with the Cambodian side of the death of South Korean university students were ill-treated autopsy.
South Korean media further disclosed that the repatriation of 64 people, 59 people were arrested in the Cambodian Police Operation Against Crime Park, and another 5 people were rescued after the initiative to call the police for help. Previously, the 64 people have all been detained by Cambodian immigration authorities, some of them or“Red Cross personnel.”. As most of them have been issued in advance by the South Korean detention order, so they arrived at Incheon Airport, immediately received by the South Korean police and started detention procedures.
Police said 64 people had been dispersed across the country for investigation, 45 of whom were handed over to the Chungnam Provincial Police Agency and 15 handed over to the Jingji Northern police station, the other four were taken to the Daejeon, Seoul, Gyeonggi-nam and Gangwon Province police station.
At the same time, the National Investigation Department of the Republic of Korea is coordinating and directing the various police departments to advance the overall investigation work, on the one hand, will verify the situation of the victims and new criminal clues, on the other hand, the subjective will of the suspect to participate in the crime will be further judged, and it will be clear whether he or she actively participated in the crime knowing that it was illegal or was forced to participate in the crime after being kidnapped and detained.
South Korea has also come out and proposed action. On the 17th, the acting chief of the South Korean police, Yu Jae-sung, admitted that in the process of dealing with cases of kidnapping and detaining South Korean citizens in Cambodia, “Despite efforts to strengthen cooperation with Cambodia, there is a lack of coordination.”. Kim Hyun-hee, the Supreme Democratic Party member, said at a press conference on the 19th that the government should“Use all means, including diplomacy, intelligence and military power,” to protect the safety of South Korean citizens in Cambodia.
South Korean president Lee Jae-myung also attached great importance to the issue, explicitly instructing authorities to take measures as soon as possible to remove illegal recruitment advertisements involving Cambodia and other Southeast Asian regions, reducing the risk of citizens being lured abroad to participate in crime or victimization at source.
South Korea’s financial sector is also actively studying the feasibility of imposing sanctions on Cambodian fraud syndicates. At present, the financial information and Analysis Institute under the Finance Committee is evaluating the designation of some Cambodian criminal groups and associated enterprises as restricted objects for financial transactions, if the relevant groups and enterprises are included in the list, no financial, real estate or bond transactions will be allowed in Korea without permission.
According to reports, the proposed sanctions include the Prince Group and Huiwang Group, and other targets, while the United States and the British government had previously imposed joint sanctions on the companies.