The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said a task force (TF) dedicated to cases of Koreans being kidnapped, confined, or going missing in Cambodia is currently investigating 24 cases.
Park Jeong-bo, chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said at a regular press briefing on the 3rd, "We are investigating 17 cases, and as of today we have taken over seven more from local police stations."
The TF team's investigative targets include domestic bases such as the Seoul office of the Prince Group; a domestic currency exchange of the Huiwon Group, known as a money-laundering outlet; and two Telegram channels where luring job ads that appear connected to criminal syndicates, including employment scams, were posted. These are reportedly under a pre-charge inquiry (internal probe) at this time.
Park said of the Prince Group, "It is not registered as a business," adding, "Still, we are collecting and identifying everything that could serve as a lead, such as the building lease contract, and conducting an internal probe."
Police also sent cooperation letters to 29 job search and recruitment sites, requesting the deletion and blocking of 131 posts that were luring overseas employment scams in places such as Cambodia.
Park said, "We monitored and requested deletion and blocking of 131 ads determined to be crime-related," adding, "For the 29 sites where many ads are posted, we sent official cooperation letters urging self-regulation, such as automatically blocking ads with a high likelihood of criminal ties."
Earlier, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Metropolitan Investigation Unit formed a 44-person TF and takes over investigations when reports of kidnapping, confinement, or missing persons involving overseas Koreans are filed and criminal connections are identified.