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SEOUL, Newspim — “Choseon.”

The 31-year-old woman, who belonged to a Cambodia-based voice phishing criminal organization known as the “Hanya Call Center,” or the “Ma Dong-seok Team,” was called by this name.

In the organization, there were not only “Choseon,” but also names from Romance of the Three Kingdoms such as Lü Bu and Zhuge Liang, as well as figures from biographies of great historical figures, including Shin Saimdang, Heo Jun, and Yu Gwan-sun. Like characters in a Romance of the Three Kingdoms game, they carried out voice phishing tasks assigned by the criminal organization in a cyber space where complete anonymity was guaranteed.

“Choseon” was an operator on the so-called “romance team.” Using a friendly voice, she approached wealthy men in their 40s as if she were offering paid dating or sexual services, and induced them to sign up for an online site. In the process, she requested money transfers, claiming they were necessary for identity verification.

In this way, Choseon defrauded five people of KRW 300 million over four months, from October of last year to January of this year.

(Omitted)

“Many people go overseas knowing that it is a scam, not because they were literally kidnapped, but because they have hope that they can make a lot of money. Even so, once they arrive locally, their passports are first taken away, and they come under tremendous pressure to meet performance targets. When participants conclude that ‘this is absolutely not right,’ they flee back to Korea, but even then, they cannot avoid punishment.”

This was stated by Attorney Chon Hyeong Hwan of Mega-X Law Office, who mainly represents victims or suspects who became involved in voice phishing organizations in Thailand.

The Temptation of a “KRW 5 Million Monthly Base Salary”

The October 2025 ruling by the Seoul Eastern District Court, in which “Choseon” was a defendant, shows in detail how criminal proceeds were distributed among members of the organization.

Source: Newspim, Reporters Kim Young-eun and Kim Ji-na, “[Voice Phishing in Court] ④ Labor: Why Did the Woman in the ‘Ma Dong-seok Team’ Become ‘Choseon’? The Choices of Young People Who Lost Their Jobs,” November 22, 2025.
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