The repatriation follows public outcry in the country over the torture and killing of a South Korean college student in Cambodia this year, reportedly by a crime ring.
The multibillion-dollar illicit industry has ballooned in Cambodia in recent years, with thousands of people perpetrating online scams, some willingly and others forced by the organised criminal groups running the fraud networks, experts say.
South Korea sent a team to Cambodia last week to discuss cases of fake jobs and scam centres involved in kidnapping dozens of its nationals.
The repatriated individuals have been implicated in various crimes linked to voice phishing, romance scams and so-called “no-show” fraud schemes, Park Sung-joo, head of the National Office of Investigation, told reporters last week.
National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac previously said the detained individuals included both “voluntary and involuntary participants” in scam operations.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/south-korea-police-seek-warrants-hold-59-scam-centre-suspects-in-custody-5412791
