Cambodia said that approximately 80 South Koreans are currently in custody within its borders, where crimes targeting them are currently rising, but are unwilling to return home.

Cambodian interior ministry spokesperson Touch Sokhak told China's state-run Xinhua News on Tuesday that all 80 detainees have declined the opportunity to go back to South Korea, despite having been approached by officials from Seoul.

Touch Sokhak told the outlet that the claim was the "initial information" he'd received, but was unable to verify whether the 80 missing individuals were the same South Korean citizens that Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday were currently unaccounted for in Cambodia.

Meanwhile, Cambodia's interior ministry said Monday in a statement issued to the Khmer Times that police are working closely with the South Korean Embassy in Phnom Penh to investigate the recent death of a South Korean student, who was found dead on Bokor Mountain in Kampot Province after experiencing severe and prolonged torture.

The Khmer Times reported that Cambodian police had arrested two suspects as of that morning and were in the process of tracking down additional accomplices.