Lured by “High-Pay” Jobs: Korean Kidnapping Cases Surge in Cambodia
TL;DR. Transnational crime groups in Cambodia are luring young Koreans with promises of high salaries, then kidnapping and forcing them into scams. After a 22-year-old student was tortured to death, Seoul issued a special travel advisory urging travelers to cancel or postpone trips to Cambodia.
What Happened to the 22-Year-Old Student
According to the North Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency and the office of Rep. Park Chan-dae (Democratic Party of Korea), a college student surnamed Park (22) flew to Cambodia on July 17 saying he would attend a local expo. Twenty-two days later, on August 8, he was found dead near Bokor Mountain (Bokor, Kampot Province). The listed cause of death was cardiac arrest brought on by torture and extreme pain.
A man identified as A, who had been confined with Park and later rescued, told Rep. Park’s office: “He was beaten so severely that even after treatment he couldn’t walk or breathe properly. I was told he died in the car on the way to a hospital near Bokor.” A also alleged Park had been forced to act as a drug courier elsewhere and then sold to the group that held A captive. Witness accounts said Park was black-and-blue from neck to calves and could barely stand.
On the 10th, the Kampot Provincial Prosecutor’s Office indicted three Chinese nationals in their 30s–40s on murder and fraud charges. They were arrested after police stopped a Ford pickup they were driving with Park inside. Korean police also arrested and referred for indictment a Korean “recruiter” who allegedly lured Park to leave for Cambodia; investigators describe him as a freelancer, not a formal member of the Cambodian syndicate, and are pursuing higher-level organizers.
There is also an unverified claim that a Chinese suspect still at large had been linked to the “Gangnam cram-school drug drink” case two years earlier. Police say they are checking related tips.
A Wider Pattern: More Koreans Targeted
Jeju (June): Police are investigating a case in which a man in his 20s flew to Cambodia after being promised 10 million KRW+ per month, only to be illegally detained and beaten for a month before escaping with help from Korean residents.
Phnom Penh (late August): A 42-year-old office worker from Jeonju went missing during a 5-night trip and was later found in a coma in an ICU. Police are probing possible kidnapping links.
By the numbers (Ministry of Foreign Affairs data):
2022: 1 kidnapping report involving Koreans in Cambodia
2023: 17
2024: 220
2025 (through August): 330 — already surpassing last year’s total
Seoul has issued a special travel advisory asking people to cancel or postpone trips to Cambodia.
How the Scheme Works
Police believe most operations are run by Chinese ringleaders, with Korean and Cambodian intermediaries also involved. The prime targets are Koreans in their 20s–30s seeking high-pay overseas work.
Victims are taken to large criminal compounds—often referred to locally as “compounds” (yuanqu, 园区)—and forced into:
Voice-phishing funnels
Stock “reading room” investment scams
Bank-account rental / mule schemes
Refusal or escape attempts bring beatings, forced drugging (including meth), and electric shocks.
One rescued victim, B, said he responded to an online post offering IT work paying 8–15 million KRW per month, with hotel lodging and meals. On arrival he was brought to a compound, handed scripts, and told by ethnic-Korean Chinese overseers that he would be tortured daily if he didn’t comply. After being beaten with a steel pipe and passing out, he was revived with a stun gun and beaten again.
Abductions in the Capital, Too
Even central Phnom Penh is not immune. Around 10 p.m. on the 21st, a 51-year-old Korean, C, was forced into a black SUV after leaving a café. Thanks to a quick call by a security guard, police rescued him the next day at a hotel and arrested four Chinese nationals and one Cambodian. Seized at the site were a K54 semi-automatic pistol, two magazines, nine rounds, three radios, and 112 tablets of “yaba” (methamphetamine).
Why Cambodia Has Become a “Crime City”
Analysts point to a displacement effect: tougher crackdowns in China and Vietnam have pushed syndicates into Cambodia, where police corruption and weaker oversight offer cover. Korea’s on-the-ground capacity is limited—at present, there are only three Korean police officers assigned to the Embassy in Phnom Penh—making rapid coordination difficult.
A veteran international-crime investigator notes that post-COVID tactics have shifted from risky identity theft to physically controlling victims inside base compounds for tighter management.
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