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Remains of university student tortured, killed in Cambodia return to Korea

Published: 21 Oct. 2025, 08:56 Updated: 21 Oct. 2025, 09:21

The remains of 22-year-old Park, who was tortured and killed in Cambodia in August, return to Korea two months later on Oct. 21 at the Incheon International Airport. [NEWS1]

Seventy-four days after being found tortured and killed in Cambodia, the remains of Korean university student Park were finally returned to Korea on Tuesday.

The cremated remains of Park arrived at Incheon International Airport aboard Korean Air Flight KE690, which landed at 8:04 a.m. Tuesday.

Park had told his family he was going to visit an expo during the summer vacation before leaving for Cambodia. He was later captured and tortured in a local criminal compound known as “Wenchi.” On Aug. 8, his body was found inside a car near Bokor Mountain in Kampot Province. Local police said at the time that the body showed signs of having been beaten, but the autopsy revealed no signs of organ damage or mutilation.

The remains had been stored for more than two months in a storage room inside Tuol Tumpoung Pagoda in the Sen Sok district of Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

A joint autopsy was conducted Monday morning by police from Korea and Cambodia inside the pagoda. The procedure lasted approximately three hours. Park’s body was cremated after the autopsy, and the decision to repatriate his remains was made immediately afterward.

His exact cause of death will be determined based on further tests, including tissue and toxicology analyses, and the findings of ongoing investigations in both countries.

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 SHIN HYE-YEON [[email protected]]