Why South Korea’s Gen Z are falling prey to the scam gangs of Southeast Asia

A growing number of young South Koreans are vanishing into Southeast Asia’s criminal underworld, lured by the promise of high-paying jobs – only to end up trafficked, tortured or killed.

Many, fleeing a stagnant labour market at home, are being deceived by transnational crime syndicates into running online scams and illegal gambling operations. Others join willingly in search of easy money.

But all eventually find themselves exploited, victims of criminal enterprises that span the lawless border regions of Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam and beyond.

In South Korea, the explosion in cases has provoked a national reckoning. How did one of Asia’s most advanced economies, renowned for its high levels of education and technological prowess, become such a fertile recruitment ground for scam syndicates overseas?

A trail of bodies

On Tuesday, the body of a 22-year-old university student was finally repatriated to South Korea, more than two months after he was killed.