The foreign ministry vowed Saturday to push for the swift repatriation of the remains of a student tortured to death in Cambodia in connection with a suspected employment scam, more than two months after he was found dead.
In August, the student's body was discovered near Bokor Mountain, where employment scams and detentions targeting South Koreans have occurred, a month after he left for the country. Cambodian police believe he died from cardiac arrest resulting from torture.
The body still remains in the country without undergoing an autopsy due to issues with cooperation from Cambodian authorities, sparking a public outcry in South Korea.
The ministry explained that it has been making efforts for an autopsy and to bring the student's body back home, noting that it requested Cambodian authorities for a swift investigation into the case after being notified of his death.
It said the number of South Korean victims of employment scams and detentions in Cambodia has recently increased due to the growing number of South Koreans being lured to forcibly work at online scam centers in the country.
The ministry said it has requested Cambodian authorities to consider easing procedures for reporting detentions at such centers, given that victims currently have to file a report themselves and provide various information, such as a copy of their passport.
It noted that there were also individuals voluntarily working at such centers, who could be seen as potential scammers targeting South Koreans.
On Friday, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun summoned the Cambodian ambassador in Seoul to protest the incident that led to the death of the student. The ministry also issued a special travel advisory for Phnom Penh.
Meanwhile, two South Koreans were recently rescued after being confined and tortured at a hotel in Cambodia, and forced to take part in criminal activities for about 160 days, officials said.
They had traveled to Cambodia after responding to an online job posting claiming to offer work in the information technology field.
But the so-called company turned out to be a voice phishing crime ring involving Chinese nationals, ethnic Koreans from China and others, and the victims faced severe torture while being forced to work for months.
They were finally rescued by local police, in cooperation with officials from the South Korean foreign ministry and Rep. Park Chan-dae of the ruling Democratic Party. They have been questioned by Cambodian police and are now preparing to return home.
One of the rescued individuals said there were also three other South Koreans in the room next door of the criminal compound where he was detained and many more Koreans are likely still waiting to be rescued.
According to data submitted to Park's office by the ministry, around 330 reports had been filed with South Korean diplomatic missions from January to August about fake job offers and detainment in Cambodia.
