Police Rescue Two Victims Who Went to Cambodia on Job Offer Scam and Were Held Captive

\r\n
[Financial News] Police, working with local police in the Kingdom of Cambodia through international cooperation, have rescued two South Korean nationals who were held captive.
The Korean National Police Agency said on the 17th that it had rescued two victims and arrested related suspects through international cooperation with local police and other agencies in connection with two recent hostage cases involving South Korean nationals in the Kingdom of Cambodia.
According to police, on the 7th, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Cambodia received a report saying that a South Korean national was being held captive at a hotel in Sihanoukville, Kingdom of Cambodia. The victim had traveled to the Kingdom of Cambodia via Vietnam after being offered a job, was then detained, and sent a rescue request to the embassy's main email account saying that the captors were demanding $20,000.
Immediately after the report was received, the Korean National Police Agency activated a real-time international cooperation system involving International Cooperation Division 2, domestic investigative units, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Cambodia, the Korea-Cambodia Joint Task Force for Koreans, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), and local Cambodian police. It also coordinated with INTERPOL and led the on-site response to begin the rescue operation.
Police quickly identified the victim's condition and exact location, then went to the scene with Cambodian police to carry out rescue efforts, including checking CCTV footage and questioning people nearby. The two countries' police later pinpointed the victim's exact place of detention and deployed more than 20 Cambodian officers to block the hotel entrance on the first floor and nearby escape routes as part of the rescue operation.
As a result, police spotted three Chinese suspects fleeing the hotel with the victim, and rescued the victim safely and arrested all of the suspects about nine hours after the report was filed.
Police believe the victim had gone abroad after seeing a 'special recruitment notice for people with disabilities and socially vulnerable groups' posted on social networking service (SNS) platforms. They are now investigating brokers and others involved in drafting and distributing the notice.
Another report was filed by text message on the 10th, saying that a South Korean woman was being held captive in Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia. It was confirmed that the victim had visited the Kingdom of Cambodia to meet a Chinese man she had met online, only to be detained and threatened with the words, 'We won't let you go unless you pay.' She then requested rescue.
The Korean National Police Agency immediately launched an international cooperation response involving domestic and overseas police and diplomatic missions. It also issued an INTERPOL Yellow Notice to locate the victim and confirm her identity. Based on the approximate location information shared by the reporter and CCTV analysis, the Korea-Cambodia Joint Task Force for Koreans identified the victim's exact whereabouts. Police then carried out a joint operation with local authorities, rescuing the victim and arresting the suspects one day after the report.
The Korean National Police Agency said it will further strengthen its international cooperation system to respond to online job scams and detention and extortion crimes linked to illegal investment and gambling rings, especially across Southeast Asia. It also said it will devote all-out efforts to protecting overseas Koreans and responding to violent crimes abroad.
Park Jun-seong, acting director of the International Police Cooperation Bureau at the Korean National Police Agency, said, "This case shows that the cooperation system between the Korea-Cambodia Joint Task Force for Koreans and local police is playing a practical role in ensuring the safety of our citizens." He added, "As kidnapping and detention cases disguised as job placement continue to recur in the Kingdom of Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries, our citizens need to remain especially vigilant."
welcome@fnnews.com Jang Yu-ha Reporter