South Korea’s foreign minister has summoned Cambodia’s ambassador to Seoul amid a surge in kidnappings of South Koreans linked to online job scams in Cambodia, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported Friday.
According to lawmaker Na Kyung-won’s office, reported kidnappings of South Koreans in Cambodia — which previously averaged between 10 and 20 cases a year — rose sharply to 220 last year and 330 as of August 2025.
The sharp rise has drawn public outrage following the death of a South Korean college student in Cambodia, who was reportedly kidnapped and tortured by a local crime ring. Many victims were said to have been lured by false promises of high-paying jobs, Na said.
“I summoned Cambodian Ambassador Khuon Phon Rattanak today to express grave concern over the continued cases of job fraud and confinement involving Korean nationals in Cambodia,” Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said in a statement cited by AFP.
Cho urged “swift and concrete action to eliminate online scams” and said Seoul had issued a special travel advisory for Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital.
“I also called for stronger measures to prevent another tragic loss of life and for closer cooperation between our police authorities,” he added.
Local reports said the late college student, found dead in Cambodia in August, was believed to have suffered a heart attack brought on by torture and extreme pain.
AFP said Amnesty International has warned that abuses in Cambodia’s scam centres are happening on a “mass scale,” identifying at least 53 compounds across the country where organized criminal groups engage in human trafficking, forced labour, torture, and slavery.
In a report released in June, Amnesty accused the Cambodian government of being “acquiescent” and “complicit” in the exploitation of thousands of workers.
