South Korea seeks to arrest dozens of online scam suspects repatriated from Cambodia

Authorities are seeking to formally arrest most of the 64 South Koreans repatriated from Cambodia for allegedly working for online scam organizations in Cambodia, police said Monday.

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The 64 South Koreans were detained in Cambodia over the past several months and were flown to Korea on a charter flight Saturday. Upon arrival in South Korea, they were detained while police investigated whether they voluntarily joined scam organizations in Cambodia or were forced to work there.

Online scams, many based in Southeast nations, have risen sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic and produced two sets of victims: the tens of thousands of people who have been forced to work as scammers under the threat of violence, and the targets of their fraud. Monitoring groups say online scams earn international criminal gangs billions of dollars annually.