Seoul: South Korean media reported a drop in South Koreans traveling to Southeast Asian countries following news of online scams and kidnappings in Cambodia.

According to Thai News Agency, the Korea Herald newspaper website reported, citing passenger statistics released by Incheon Airport Corporation, that in October 2015, overall travel from South Korea to Southeast Asia decreased by 7.25 percent from September to 784,962. If we break down the number to Cambodia, it decreased by as much as 15.4 percent from 13,727 in September to 11,613 in October.

The Korea Herald said the sharp drop in numbers follows a series of worrying news reports over the past month about young South Koreans being lured into jobs in tech or digital marketing, only to be trafficked into scam centers in loosely regulated special economic zones in Cambodia. These victims are detained, forced into online fraud, and sometimes subjected to violence or sold to other criminal gangs.

The impact went beyond Cambodia, with South Korean arrivals to Thailand and the Philippines falling by 18.9 percent to 120,175 and 5 percent to 157,402 in October, respectively. This contrasted with a 3.1 percent increase in international passenger traffic at Incheon Airport in October, which rose by more than 6.39 million.

A Realmeter survey on October 21 found that 82.4 percent of South Korean respondents admitted that crime in Cambodia influenced their decision to travel to Southeast Asia. This figure rose to 88.3 percent among respondents in their 20s.