Hey, don't blame us: Cambodian tourism industry, officials nonplussed by Korean response to scam crimes
Published: 14 Oct. 2025, 19:35
![Homepage of The Phnom Penh Times [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/14/d6b14af6-d4c0-461e-b5e9-6e86e9ab6f39.jpg)
Homepage of The Phnom Penh Times [SCREEN CAPTURE]
The Cambodian tourism industry protested Korea's failure to "differentiate between scam operations and tourism," after days of headlines filled with news of Cambodian crime rings abducting Korean nationals.
In a report by The Phnom Penh Post on Monday, industry representatives stressed that the incidents primarily involve individuals linked to criminal groups, not ordinary tourists.
Seam Sokkheng, head of the Cambodia Korean Tourist Guide Association, said in an interview with The Phnom Penh Post on Monday that “most of the victims had applied for illegal jobs” and that “it is unfortunate that the Korean government has failed to distinguish between criminal fraud and tourism.”
“For the last 10 days, I led a travel group, and they said there was nothing bad about Cambodia,” said Sokkheng. “Unfortunately, those who fell victim traveled here to meet with people they had been in contact with online, not as regular tourists.
"We feel sorry that the Korean leader did not differentiate between scam operations and tourism.”
![According to Cambodia’s state-run AKP news agency on Oct. 11, the Kampot Provincial Prosecutor’s Office indicted three Chinese nationals in their 30s and 40s on charges of murder and fraud the previous day. The suspects are accused of killing a Korean university student in his 20s near Bokor Mountain in Kampot Province in August. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/14/c6761eab-26ba-4fb4-b728-c8355a56cfc0.jpg)
According to Cambodia’s state-run AKP news agency on Oct. 11, the Kampot Provincial Prosecutor’s Office indicted three Chinese nationals in their 30s and 40s on charges of murder and fraud the previous day. The suspects are accused of killing a Korean university student in his 20s near Bokor Mountain in Kampot Province in August. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
In response to growing safety concerns, Korea’s Foreign Ministry recently raised its travel advisory for Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, from Level 2, or “refrain from travel,” to Level 2.5, a “special travel warning.”
Sokkheng “urged the Korean leaderships to make more effort to educate their citizens to understand online scam tactics, including the promise of high-paying jobs, and how to avoid becoming scam victims,” according to the outlet.
![In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press, online scammers arrested by authorities squat in a building in Sihanoukville province, southwestern of Phnom Penh, Cambodia on July 15. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/14/51b9d149-4a67-486b-bc3d-d9e515288471.jpg)
In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press, online scammers arrested by authorities squat in a building in Sihanoukville province, southwestern of Phnom Penh, Cambodia on July 15. [AP/YONHAP]
The Cambodian government has also stressed that it is taking strong measures to curb online crime.
According to local media outlet The Khmer Times on last Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Sar Sokha said at a recent seminar on cybercrime that the Cambodian government “has already expelled more than 15,000 foreigners involved in online crimes” over the last two years, adding that “the evolution of online fraud has advanced compared to five years ago.”
The article added that “online fraud in Cambodia is not a market for criminal groups, it is global, so all relevant parties must participate in preventing it.”
![A street photo from Poipet, Cambodia, posted on a Thai online community last June, shows a pile of Thai and other foreign passports scattered around a trash can [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/14/47824d38-1e7f-4ae1-909b-27ad49352120.jpg)
A street photo from Poipet, Cambodia, posted on a Thai online community last June, shows a pile of Thai and other foreign passports scattered around a trash can [SCREEN CAPTURE]
Meanwhile, in response to South China Morning Post reports that the family of a Korean victim had sought diplomatic assistance, Cambodian police told The Khmer Times that “no official complaint or request for intervention was made by the victim’s family or the South Korean Embassy before the body was found.”
Touch Sokhak, spokesperson for Cambodia’s Interior Ministry, said that "cases involving online scams against South Korean nationals are not isolated, while some countries experience even more serious crimes than Cambodia,” according to the Phnom Penh Post.
Sokhak also “believed the case of the Korean man’s death should not be used to cause turmoil in Cambodia-South Korea relations, as it was the result of an intertwined criminal network,” according to the article.
![Four Chinese nationals and one Cambodian are arrested for kidnapping a Korean man in his 50s in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/14/01d4968d-783c-4a17-b352-117cc2a665ce.jpg)
Four Chinese nationals and one Cambodian are arrested for kidnapping a Korean man in his 50s in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
“If these crimes affect our relations, then it presents an opportunity for international organized crime to flourish,” said Sokhak. “Having said that, I don’t mean that we reject their cooperation or diplomatic relations. We understand their feeling when their citizen is a victim. What we want is their understanding that Cambodia, too, was a victim of this crime.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HA SU-YOUNG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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