The development comes after the Southeast Asian country said the previous day that the detainees including four women would be deported to Seoul in cooperation with the South Korean Embassy there.
"Authorities plan to deport 59 South Korean nationals….. who have been rescued by Cambodian authorities or detained for other crimes to their country with cooperation from the embassy of South Korea," said Cambodia's National Police said in a statement.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there were initially about 63 detainees, but with several having already arrived home earlier this week, the rest are expected to return by the end of the week.
Led by Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jin-ah, the task force rushed to the Cambodian capital earlier this week to investigate the rising number of crimes targeting South Koreans, following recent revelations of kidnappings, human trafficking, and illegal detentions including the case of a South Korean college student who traveled to the Southeast Asian country in August after being lured by an online job scam and was later found to have been brutally tortured to death.
"We are working closely with Cambodian authorities to expedite their repatriation as soon as possible," Kim said.
She added that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet expressed his "deep regret" over the student's death and pledged to work toward arresting the suspects while ensuring the safety of South Koreans in Cambodia during their meeting the previous day.
Thousands of people, many of them Chinese, are allegedly involved in multinational crime rings that exploit victims by forcing them to carry out online scams and phishing schemes. Crimes targeting South Koreans in Cambodia have reportedly exceeded 300 so far this year.
Out of roughly 143 reported cases of individuals suspected of being kidnapped or missing, the whereabouts of about 80 South Korean citizens remain unknown.
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