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11m ago

South Korea Launches Task Force to Repatriate Nationals From Cambodia as Abuse Reports Surge

Officials now consider dispatching investigators following Amnesty’s findings of systematic detention and torture.

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun (R) listens to a lawmaker's question about crimes targeting South Koreans in Cambodia during an audit by the parliamentary foreign affairs committee at the National Assembly in Seoul on Oct. 13, 2025. (Yonhap)
President Lee Jae Myung (L) speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on Oct. 14, 2025. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
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Overview

  • National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac chaired the task force’s first meeting, directing an immediate, potentially phased repatriation of at-risk citizens and a review of sending investigative personnel to Cambodia.
  • Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Seoul is discussing sending personnel to fly home those awaiting return, as authorities logged 330 detention and abduction-related reports in the first eight months of 2025.
  • Amnesty International’s new 242-page report identified 53 detention sites and consistent patterns of forced labor and torture linked to Chinese organized crime, while alleging Cambodian official complicity.
  • Korean police widened domestic probes into recruiters, focusing on a suspect surnamed Hong believed to have introduced the slain student to an overseas scam ring, alongside arrests, Interpol notices and fresh missing-person cases.
  • Political scrutiny intensified after a lawmaker revealed a 2024 rejection of a request to boost embassy police in Phnom Penh, with parties arguing over responses and officials favoring investigative cooperation over mooted military options.