As South Korean victims of Cambodia’s scam camps recount frequent beatings, torture and even organ harvesting, President Lee Jae-myung has vowed to step up efforts to rescue citizens trapped in the Southeast Asian nation.
“It’s not uncommon for people to die from assault. About one person dies every day,” one South Korean who is a resident in Cambodia told Yonhap news agency on Tuesday.
“It’s not just South Koreans who are targeted. There are also people of various nationalities, including Vietnamese, Indonesian, Malaysian and Chinese.”
The issue of South Koreans being caught up in Cambodia’s scam epidemic came into the spotlight after the death of a college student in August.
Before flying out on July 17, the 22-year-old college student from North Gyeongsang province told his family that he was taking a summer job at an expo in Phnom Penh, local media reported.
His parents received a call demanding a US$38,500 ransom a week later, claiming their son “had caused trouble”, but soon lost contact with his kidnappers.
