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4h ago

South Korea Imposes Code-Black Travel Ban on Cambodian Hotspots, Sends High-Level Team

An interagency team is in Phnom Penh to secure repatriations.

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Workers ride their motor-cart loaded with glass past a branch of the Prince Bank in Phnom Penh on October 15, 2025. US authorities on October 14 unsealed an indictment against Chen Zhi, a UK-Cambodian businessman accused of running forced labor camps in Cambodia where trafficked workers carried out cryptocurrency fraud schemes that netted billions of dollars. The 37-year-old, known as Vincent, founded Prince Holding Group, a multinational conglomerate that authorities say served as a front for "one of Asia's largest transnational criminal organizations," according to the US Department of Justice. Since around 2015, Prince Group has operated across more than 30 countries under the guise of legitimate real estate, financial services and consumer businesses, prosecutors said. (Photo by TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP) (Photo by TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP via Getty Images)
This file photo, taken Sept. 19, 2025, shows Rep. Kim Seok-ki (R), chair of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, during a seminar. (Yonhap)
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun (5th from L) presides over a consular meeting on Cambodia job scams on Oct. 16, 2025, in this photo provided by the foreign ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Overview

  • Seoul’s Level 4 ban covers Bokor Mountain, Bavet and Poipet, with Sihanoukville raised to a leave-now advisory and broader alerts tightened nationwide.
  • The delegation led by Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Ji-na plans talks with Prime Minister Hun Manet and Cambodia’s anti-scam commission to coordinate investigations and assistance.
  • Authorities say 61 South Koreans are in Cambodian detention after two were flown home this week, with Seoul aiming to repatriate the rest by week’s end and considering a charter flight under strict escort rules.
  • Officials report about 80 unresolved missing or confinement cases, with roughly 1,000 South Koreans believed to be in Cambodia’s scam compounds out of an estimated 200,000 people involved.
  • Cambodian police have charged suspects over the torture death of student Park Min-ho and report recent raids and detentions, while the US and UK moved against alleged kingpin Chen Zhi with an indictment, sanctions and a multibillion-dollar crypto seizure.