South Korea has taken an unprecedented step in its campaign against transnational crime by unveiling its first-ever autonomous sanctions targeting a sprawling criminal network allegedly linked to cyber-scamming, human trafficking, and large-scale financial fraud. The move, announced by Seoul on November 27, aligns closely with recent actions by the United States and the United Kingdom against the so-called “Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization,” a Cambodia-based entity accused of running massive criminal operations across Southeast Asia.

In a rare joint statement, South Korea’s foreign, justice and interior ministries declared that the sanctions represent “the country’s first independent effort to combat cross-border organized crime,” reflecting the growing urgency surrounding cyber-fraud networks proliferating in Southeast Asia. Many of these syndicates, authorities say, entrap young workers-including South Koreans-through false job offers before forcing them into scam compounds where they are subjected to violence, debt bondage, and coercion.

The list released by Seoul features individuals and entities nearly identical to those sanctioned recently by Washington and London. The US Department of the Treasury and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office last month jointly targeted dozens of people and companies they say form the core of the Prince Group empire. Seoul’s decision to duplicate those measures signals heightened cooperation among Western governments to dismantle transnational cyber-crime networks that have become more sophisticated, better funded, and harder to track.

“Among those designated are individuals and entities connected to the Prince Group, which developed and operated massive scam compounds… where numerous Korean victims were confined,” the South Korean government said. It added........

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