"Before they cut off my finger, they told me to unlock my bank account password." The producers of It's Okay to Know shed light on the bases of crimes targeting Koreans that take place in Cambodia over 88 days.
In a special episode of SBS' It's Okay to Know, shortened as I Know, aired on the night of the 16th, the program covered crimes committed against Koreans in Cambodia that have recently drawn public attention.
Recently, crimes targeting Koreans in Cambodia have been reported daily, raising public alarm. Cambodia had been spoken of domestically as a refuge for people in the entertainment industry. In fact, among those who drew attention was Hwang Ha-na, a chaebol third generation with a drug record who was mentioned as the former fiancée of singer and actor Park Yoo-chun, and Seungri, a former member of Big Bang who was expelled from the entertainment world over the Burning Sun gate, was spotted in Cambodia, drawing harsh criticism.
Meanwhile, BJ Ayoung was found dead in Cambodia, shocking the public. On top of that, Cambodia has recently been identified as a base for kidnappings and unlawful detention of Koreans abroad. In response, the I Know production team went to Cambodia in person.
Victims the I Know producers met said they were lured by the promise of "high-paying part-time work" and, after arriving at the airport, were dispersed across Phnom Penh to border areas, port cities and other locations. Most of them were exposed to various criminal risks such as fraud, kidnapping, human trafficking and assault in a prison-like compound called a "wenchi."
One informant who barely escaped said, "According to embassy staff, 280 people were rescued last year," adding to the shock. But even then, the informant confessed, "Even embassy staff said they couldn't rescue people if they were inside the 'compound'."
An informant who said he barely escaped from Sihanoukville, a Cambodian port city, led the I Know producers to the area around the 'wenchi' compound. He looked around near the local Chinatown and confessed the shock of that time. He began, "I had a loan of 2 million won, and I was told I could make big money translating, so I came to Cambodia in mid-February. Airport staff were holding my name and even the taxi driver saw me off."
But the situation changed when he arrived at a Sihanoukville hotel. Originally, he had been in contact with a woman who used the Telegram nickname 'Kkomi' and came to Cambodia because of her, but the person who came to pick him up at the hotel was a Korean man. He suddenly took his passport and phone and demanded his bank book, saying, "I'm trying to be reasonable. They said they couldn't cut off fingers, and told me to unlock my bank account," adding to the shock.
The I Know producers contacted 'Kkomi,' the criminal organizer who had called them to Cambodia, through Seo Jong-ho (alias) and another victim, Park Jong-ho (alias), who had been trapped in the nearby 'wenchi' compound. To avoid being traced, they communicated only via Telegram and introduced an ID believed to be another organizer named 'Nami.'
A meeting between 'Nami' and the I Know producers was barely arranged. The man presumed to be 'Nami' met the producers and calmly continued the conversation rather than hiding or fleeing. He dodged questions, saying, "Honestly, I came because I was contacted on behalf of someone," and made excuses like, "I didn't set up the Telegram; it was shared with me. They told me to come if something looked odd, like jeans with a shirt or hiking boots with hiking clothes—typical police attire."
"The broadcast doesn't matter," said 'Nami,' adding, "I honestly hate torture and kidnapping too. But I think they brought it on themselves. Frankly, they could have avoided it by not coming. They came on their own feet, who can you blame. If they hadn't come, it wouldn't have happened, but didn't they come to do illegal work to make money?" He brazenly said this. When producers asked whether he felt any "pang of conscience," he replied, "I don't refuse the jobs that come to me," and even smiled and made a V sign as he spoke casually. The fact that buying and selling people is treated merely as "work" shocked and terrified viewers.
[Photo] Source: SBS.
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