Police have detained eleven of the 64 South Koreans who were repatriated from Cambodia in mid-October.

The Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police announced Tuesday that 15 of the repatriated individuals were under investigation and eleven had been placed in detention.

The detainees stand accused of aiding "romance scams," in which the perpetrator pretends to engage in online romance as a woman before ultimately snatching money from their victim.

Police say the detainees are members of a crime ring known as "TK," named after a region of Phnom Penh, and have been working under false names.

Authorities suspect that the organization stole one-point-six billion won, or around one-point-one million U.S. dollars, from 36 male victims between August 2024 and September 2025.

Investigators have also obtained testimony to the fact that the detained people deliberately joined the organization for economic benefit.