A wave of anxiety is spreading among Korean citizens after a Korean college student who had been kidnapped and tortured by a criminal organization in Cambodia was found dead, followed by a series of reports of abductions and illegal detentions targeting Koreans abroad. Concerns are growing not only about traveling to Cambodia but across Southeast Asia as a whole, leading to a surge in trip cancellations. Online communities are also circulating warnings to beware of part-time job offers promising high pay.

Kim Yoon-ji, 29, who had planned a trip to Thailand early next month, hurriedly canceled four flight tickets on October 11. “I was going to travel with my family, and even if popular tourist destinations are relatively safe, hearing that crimes against Koreans are becoming frequent makes me uneasy,” Kim said. “We’re thinking of changing our destination to somewhere domestic or safer.” A tourism industry official surnamed A said in a phone interview on October 13, “There have always been some safety concerns about Cambodia, but after this case was reported, the number of customers changing or canceling their trips has sharply increased,” adding, “We’re clearly seeing a downward trend in demand.”

Online communities have been flooded with comments such as “I wouldn’t go to Southeast Asia even if it’s cheap” and “It never hurts to be cautious wherever you go.” On one university’s anonymous online forum, a user wrote, “My brother is going on a two-month business trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and I’m terrified we might lose him. I told him to turn on his phone’s location-sharing feature and to stay inside the hotel at night.”

Meanwhile, posts warning people to “beware of high-paying part-time job offers in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, or Malaysia” are being shared on online secondhand marketplaces and local community boards. One online job post read, “All you have to do is deliver documents to my brother in Cambodia. Round-trip airfare provided, 400,000 won per delivery.” A user who shared the post warned, “Even familiar websites have these kinds of traps. They tell you to take a van from the airport to deliver the papers, but that’s how they kidnap people into criminal groups.”

Police across the country have also been receiving multiple reports from people unable to reach family members or acquaintances staying in Cambodia.