South Korea extradited 73 online fraud suspects from Cambodia

A group of suspects including 65 men and 8 women were extradited from Cambodia to Incheon Airport, South Korea on January 23 on a private chartered plane and immediately taken to the police station. They wore masks, were handcuffed and were escorted to the bus by police officers.

“We will pursue those involved to the end and force them to face appropriate consequences,” senior police officer Yoo Seung Ryul said in a press conference broadcast live at the airport.

The Korean Ministry of Justice said that the country has taken many measures to extradite the group of suspects back to the country, including more than 10 online meetings with Cambodian officials.

Speaking at the airport, senior official of the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs Yoo Byung-seok thanked the Cambodian government for this repatriation. He said South Korea hopes to continue close bilateral coordination until online scams targeting Koreans carried out from Cambodia are eliminated.

They were among about 260 South Koreans arrested in a raid in Cambodia in recent months. The total amount of money this group defrauded was up to 48.6 billion won (33 million USD). Among these is a couple accused of running a love fraud ring using deepfake technology, appropriating 12 billion won (8.2 million USD) from 100 victims.

Korean people’s anger at fraud centers in Southeast Asia flared up after a Korean student was found dead in Cambodia last year. Investigation showed that this person died from torture after being forced to work in a complex believed to be the headquarters of an online fraud organization in Cambodia.

Korean officials in October 2025 estimated that about 1,000 Koreans were in fraud centers in Cambodia. Some people were forced into labor.

Since October 2025, about 130 Korean fraud suspects in Cambodia have been extradited to the country. After the repatriation on January 23, about 60 Koreans were still detained in Cambodia awaiting repatriation.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on January 22 called for strict punishment for transnational cybercrime, emphasizing that this type of crime erodes trust in society and causes diplomatic problems with other countries.