In the international arrivals hall on the first floor of Terminal 2 at Incheon International Airport on Saturday at 9:54 a.m., 64 Koreans who had been detained in Cambodia for involvement in voice phishing and other crimes were repatriated and appeared before the public.
Most of the individuals were young men. They wore caps and masks to hide their faces, and their handcuffed wrists were covered with cloth. They moved along a designated, restricted path separate from the general public.
Some, appearing disheveled, had visible tattoos on their arms and legs. Each suspect was escorted by two police officers holding both arms as they were led to transport vehicles.
Some individuals came to meet the returnees. One of the suspects shouted to a young man, “Did you call Mom? I’m sorry!” as he was led to the parking lot. The young man responded, “Hyung [older brother]!” and tried to follow, but he was stopped by the police.
The Korean Air government-chartered flight carrying the suspects landed at Incheon International Airport around 8:35 a.m. Immigration procedures took approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes. Under Korean nationality law, once aboard the chartered flight — considered Korean territory — the suspects were officially placed under arrest.
To ensure security, 215 personnel, including police SWAT teams armed with rifles and airport rapid response teams, were deployed at the airport.
On board the chartered flight were also around 200 police officers, including a police escort team led by Park Sung-joo, the head of the National Office of Investigation, as well as members of a joint government response team led by Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jin-a.
“We’ve agreed with the Cambodian government that it will swiftly notify us if Korean nationals are arrested,” Park told reporters upon returning.
“All individuals will be prosecuted under Korean law in accordance with legal procedures. We will focus on identifying the broader voice phishing networks involved. Since there are also suspicions of drug use, drug tests will be conducted on all repatriated individuals.” He added, “It's unlikely that repatriations of this scale will be feasible again in the future.”
The police deployed 23 escort vehicles at the airport to transport the 64 individuals separately to police jurisdictions for investigation.
Of the 64 suspects, 59 were arrested during a Cambodian crackdown on scam compounds, while 5 were rescued after reporting themselves to local authorities.
Additionally, four more Koreans who had been detained in Cambodia were repatriated earlier on Tuesday and Friday on regular flights.
According to the joint response team, some personnel will remain in Cambodia for additional on-site investigations.
“We have agreed to establish a joint response task force with Cambodia to strengthen future cooperation,” said Kim.
Meanwhile, some travelers at the airport expressed discomfort.
“Aren’t these people the perpetrators who harmed fellow Koreans?” said a 61-year-old person surnamed Hong, who visited Incheon International Airport. “I don’t understand why criminals are being given such special treatment.”
“The police need to investigate thoroughly and confiscate all criminal proceeds,” said another traveler surnamed Park.
The individuals repatriated this time are suspected of participating in a variety of online scam operations in Cambodia's so-called “Wenzhi” criminal compounds, including voice phishing, investment fraud and romance scams.
Some are even listed as Interpol Red Notice fugitives.
Cambodian courts reportedly approved the forced deportation of certain individuals who had refused voluntary return because they feared being prosecuted in Korea.
This case marks the third time Korea has used a chartered flight to repatriate criminals from abroad — and is the largest group repatriation in Korean history in terms of the number of individuals brought back from a single country in a single operation.
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.
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