Are scams, other threats scaring away tourists from Cambodia?

Between January and August this year alone 330 South Koreans have reportedly gone missing or been abducted after entering Cambodia, AFP reported.

They had mainly been lured to Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville or Bokor with fake job advertisements and large salaries.

In the most recent case a Korean university student who traveled to Phom Penh for an employment fair during his summer break was tortured and killed by a local criminal organization.

His death has triggered widespread fear among South Koreans about traveling to Cambodia, prompting the government to take urgent measures to protect its citizens from the escalating scam crisis.

South Korea has issued warnings urging citizens to cancel or postpone non-essential travel to the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh and areas like Sihanoukville and Bokor Mountain, British newspaper The Guardian reported.

The Korean embassy in Cambodia has urged travelers to avoid going out at night, safeguard personal information and to be wary of unofficial job or recruitment offers.

On social media in Korea, posts asking "Is it safe to go to Cambodia now?" and "Isn’t it too dangerous?" are mushrooming, Korea Herald reported.

Many netizens have warned that visiting Cambodia could expose travelers to risks like modern slavery.

Analysts said Cambodia's scam crisis could diminish the number of South Koreans traveling to the country and tarnish Phnom Penh's reputation in the eyes of the Korean public.

Park Jae-jeok, associate dean and associate professor at Yonsei University's Graduate School of International Studies, said the student’s death would likely lead to a significant decline in the number of South Korean tourists to Cambodia, the South China Morning Post reported.

The number of South Koreans visiting Cambodia in the first seven months of this year was 106,686, a 9% decline from 2024, according to the Korean Tourism Organization.