Chartered flight arrives in Cambodia to repatriate detained Koreans

A chartered flight waits to pick up South Koreans detained in Cambodia for involvement in online scams waits at Techo International Airport near Phnom Penh, Friday. Yonhap

A chartered South Korean flight arrived in Cambodia late Friday night to repatriate 64 South Koreans detained for involvement in online scam operations, officials said.

Korean Air flight, KE9689, landed at Techo International Airport near Phnom Penh at around 10:51 p.m. local time, carrying about 190 South Korean police officers assigned to escort the detainees back home.

It is scheduled to take off from Phnom Penh at around 12:30 a.m. Friday (2:30 a.m. KST) for the return trip to Incheon later in the day.

All 64 South Koreans — five more than the 59 initially announced by Cambodia’s National Police — held by Cambodian immigration authorities are to be repatriated. Of them, 59 were arrested during a crackdown on scam compounds, while the five others turned themselves in after escaping the criminal networks.

Most of those to be flown home are suspects with arrest warrants issued in South Korea, and some are on Interpol’s Red Notice List. They are accused of taking part in phone-based fraud and “romance scams” run out of criminal enclaves known locally as “Wenches.”

The large-scale repatriation comes as South Korea steps up efforts to combat crimes targeting its nationals in Cambodia following public outrage over recent abductions and killings. Reports of Korean nationals being kidnapped or detained in Cambodia have surged from four in 2021 to 220 last year, and 330 as of August this year, according to government data.