Phnom penh: Twenty-six South Korean nationals were apprehended during a joint police crackdown at a scam center in a Cambodia-Vietnam border town last week, with one Korean freed from confinement, police said Sunday. A joint team of South Korea and Cambodia on Thursday raided the site located in the province of Mondulkiri, eastern Cambodia, near the Vietnamese border, and took the 26 South Koreans into custody for suspected involvement in scam operations, according to the National Police Agency (NPA).

According to Yonhap News Agency, the operation also led to the rescue of a man in his 20s who had been confined and tortured at the site. The raid involved 40 Cambodian police officers and four South Korean officers, the NPA said.

The move comes as South Korea has been ramping up efforts to combat crimes targeting South Koreans in Cambodia, such as online scams, following the torture and death of a Korean college student lured to a scam center in the Southeast Asian country in August. The Seoul-Phnom Penh joint team has apprehended 92 scam suspects and rescued two Korean victims so far this month.

"Through close cooperation between the two countries' police authorities, we will intensify the crackdown on online scams and voice phishing crimes," an NPA official said.

President Lee Jae Myung also praised the officers involved in the operation and pledged stronger international cooperation to eradicate such crimes. "I appreciate their dedication to completing their mission despite the dangerous and harsh conditions in unfamiliar territory," Lee said in a post on X. "We will further strengthen cooperation with law enforcement agencies worldwide to eradicate international organized crime, including online scams and voice phishing," he added.