A South Korean in their 20s who was imprisoned by a fraud organization in Myanmar has been rescued.
According to diplomatic authorities and the South Korean Embassy in Thailand on the 22nd, a South Korean man in his 20s, referred to as Mr. A, was captured by a Chinese fraud organization in Myanmar's Myawaddy and was held captive for over two weeks before being released on the 30th of last month.
Mr. A was deceived into believing he was going to work as an interpreter at a trading company in Thailand and arrived in Bangkok on the 14th of last month. However, he was kidnapped to Myanmar the next day.
He stated to the authorities, "I was held captive in Myanmar and forced to participate in online financial fraud targeting South Koreans, and I was beaten for poor performance and other reasons."
The embassies of Myanmar and Thailand rescued Mr. A through cooperation with the governments of Myanmar and Thailand. Mr. A stayed at a foreigner detention center in Myanmar before being repatriated to Thailand on the 20th and returning to South Korea that same night.
A spokesperson for the South Korean Embassy in Thailand said, "After receiving the report, we activated all channels, including the armed forces of Myanmar and Thailand, to ensure safety and support the rescue, assisting with his return at the border."
Myawaddy, bordering Thailand's Tak Province, is noted as a base for Chinese online crime organizations. These organizations are known to hold individuals gathered through employment scams, human trafficking, and use them for crimes such as voice phishing and online fraud.
In January, Chinese actor Wang Xing was also deceived into thinking he would be granted roles in a movie, entering Thailand only to be kidnapped to Myanmar, where he was later rescued bald, shocking many. Since then, international cooperation among China, Thailand, and Myanmar has been underway to crack down on such fraud operations.