Cambodia will send 73 online scam suspects to South Korea

Key Highlights

• Public outrage over scam centers in Southeast Asia flared in South Korea when a Korean student was found dead last summer after reportedly being forced to work at a scam compound in Cambodia.
• Authorities said at the time he died after being tortured and beaten, and South Korea sent a government delegation to Cambodia in October for talks on a joint response.
• South Korea will send a chartered plane to Cambodia, which is expected to return Friday with the suspects, who will be immediately handed over to investigative authorities upon arrival, according to a South Korean government statement.
• Cybercrime has flourished in Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia and Myanmar, as trafficked foreign nationals were employed to run romance and cryptocurrency scams, often recruited with false job offers and then forced to work in conditions of near-slavery.
• According to estimates from the U. N.