SEOUL, South Korea, Oct 20, (AP): Authorities are seeking to formally arrest most of the 64 South Koreans repatriated from Cambodia for allegedly working for online scam organizations in Cambodia, police said Monday. The 64 South Koreans were detained in Cambodia over the past several months and were flown to Korea on a charter flight Saturday.

Upon arrival in South Korea, they were detained while police investigated whether they voluntarily joined scam organizations in Cambodia or were forced to work there. Online scams, many based in Southeast Asian nations, have risen sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic and produced two sets of victims: the tens of thousands of people who have been forced to work as scammers under the threat of violence, and the targets of their fraud.

Monitoring groups say online scams earn international criminal gangs billions of dollars annually. State prosecutors have asked local courts to issue arrest warrants for 58 of the 64 returnees at the request of police, the Korean National Police Agency said in a statement. Police said the people they are seeking to place under arrest are accused of engaging in online fraud activities like romantic scams, bogus investment pitches or voice phishing, apparently targeting fellow South Koreans at home.

The courts are expected to determine whether to approve their arrests in coming days. The police agency said that five people have been set free, but it refused to disclose the reasons for their releases, saying investigations are still under way. South Korean police said that four of the 64 returnees told investigators that they were beaten while being held in scam centers in Cambodia against their will.

South Korea faces public calls to take stronger action to protect its nationals from being forced into overseas online scam centers, after one of its nationals was found dead in Cambodia in August. He was reportedly lured by a friend to travel to Cambodia to provide his bank account to be used by a scam organization.