South Korean police plan to work with the Cambodian authorities to conduct a joint autopsy on a South Korean university student who was allegedly kidnapped and tortured to death by a criminal organization in Cambodia.

The Gyeongbuk Provincial Police agency said Sunday that its investigators and others from the forensic science unit of the National Police Agency will take part in the procedure in Cambodia later this month.

Repatriation of the body and funeral arrangements are expected to go ahead only after the Cambodian authorities complete their investigation.

After a preliminary postmortem examination, Cambodian police recorded the cause of death as “cardiac arrest,” attributing this to extreme pain from torture. 

Explaining the decision to carry out a joint autopsy, a police official in South Korea said the preliminary examination alone could not confirm the cause of death, adding that the investigators plan to depart for Cambodia once the schedule is finalized through coordination with the Cambodian authorities.

The ill-fated student traveled to Cambodia on July 17, telling his family he was going there to attend a local exhibition.

He was found dead three weeks later near Bokor Mountain in Kampot Province, where police say he had been held captive.