![Buildings and guard posts suspected of being used by a criminal organization in Cambodia. Behind tall concrete walls topped with triple-layered barbed wire and sharp metal fragments, barred windows are visible, suggesting a heavily fortified compound. [AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL]](https://www.koreadailyus.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/1015-Cambodia.jpg)
“Once you enter one of these compounds, you can’t get out,” said Oh Young-hoon, chief investigator at the Seobu Police Precinct in Busan, in a phone interview with the JoongAng Ilbo on October 15. Oh recently traveled to Cambodia for an undercover investigation into cybercrime rings.
According to Oh, criminal syndicates in Cambodia use Korean brokers to recruit Korean victims by promising high-paying jobs, free airfare and accommodations.
“If the Korean brokers don’t bring in results or if the recruits underperform, they are often beaten,” he said.
Oh had been investigating an investment fraud group based in Cambodia and flew to the country alone on August 21. With assistance from the local Korean community, he visited three suspected crime compounds over a three-day stay.
The organizational structure is typically led by wealthy Chinese nationals, with Korean team leaders managing operations underneath them, according to Oh. Many of the victims who managed to escape later testified that the first person to approach them was a fellow Korean.
“Korean brokers target victims through acquaintances or social media and recruit them for illegal activities like online gambling, phishing scams and investment fraud,” Oh said. “If they fail to meet quotas, their bank accounts are seized or they are subjected to violence. In some cases, families back in Korea are extorted as well.”
![A suspected crime compound in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, photographed in late August by Oh Young-hoon, chief investigator at the Seobu Police Precinct in Busan. [OH YOUNG-HOON]](https://www.koreadailyus.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/1015-compound.jpg)
Korean police have noted a surge in Cambodia-based scams since 2024, after areas in the infamously dangerous Golden Triangle — the border region of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand — were designated as travel ban zones in November 2023. Many criminal operations have since relocated to Cambodia, a phenomenon dubbed the “balloon effect.”
“IP traces and suspect profiling show a clear rise in Cambodia-linked crime,” Oh said. “Cambodian authorities are reluctant to crack down on these groups because they inject cash into the local economy and rarely target Cambodian citizens.”
That reluctance, he added, has made international cooperation nearly impossible. Korea’s own diplomatic and investigative footprint in the country is limited.
“Of the 15 staff at the Korean Embassy in Cambodia, only three are police officers handling crime and incidents,” Oh said. “The Korean government must apply diplomatic pressure and dispatch more police directly to Cambodia to make arrests possible.”
Oh also emphasized the need for stronger public awareness campaigns to prevent Koreans from being lured into such traps. On his outbound flight to Cambodia, he encountered a man in his 20s en route to one of these scams. On the return trip, he met a man in his 30s who had escaped captivity.
Both had been enticed by promises of big money.
With Oh’s help, the younger man was immediately handed over to the police attaché upon arrival in Cambodia, while the older man was reunited with his family after landing at Incheon International Airport.
“There are so many cases, I run into victims on the plane,” Oh said. “If someone offers you a high-paying overseas job with free airfare and lodging, it’s guaranteed to be a scam. Never go abroad just based on online ads promising easy money.”
BY LEE EUN-JI [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]
