A joint South Korean investigation team has arrested 26 people over scam crimes involving sexual exploitation in Cambodia, in cooperation with local authorities. The suspects deceived Korean victims into believing they were implicated in crimes, extorting 26.7 billion won and forcing female victims to produce explicit videos. The government plans to block the videos' circulation and repatriate the suspects for punishment.
On January 5, a pan-government task force comprising South Korean police and the National Intelligence Service, in collaboration with Cambodian police, raided offices and residences in Phnom Penh, arresting 26 members of a scam ring. Presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung told reporters that the suspects impersonated government agencies, including prosecutors and financial authorities, deceiving victims into believing they were implicated in crimes and extorting 26.7 billion won ($18.2 million) from 165 South Korean nationals under the pretext of asset investigations.
During the process, numerous female victims were forced to record sexually exploitative videos or send explicit photos. "This case illustrates how scam crimes have evolved beyond simply stealing money from ordinary people, instead relentlessly exploiting victims' psychological vulnerabilities and coercing them into producing sexual exploitation material—a method that utterly devastates the victims' lives," Kang said.
Task force officials stated that the crime ring involves South Koreans, though they will verify the suspects' nationalities upon repatriation. The government will immediately block the circulation of the sexually exploitative videos and bring the suspects back to South Korea to face punishment.
This roundup follows South Korea's intensified efforts to combat crimes targeting its nationals in Cambodia, such as online scams, after the torture and death of a Korean college student lured to a scam center in the Southeast Asian country in August last year.