Online scam and fraud operations have grown into a transnational criminal enterprise of staggering scale, with networks across Southeast Asia trafficking workers into forced criminality, laundering proceeds through complex financial networks, and exploiting cyberspace to defraud victims worldwide. Governments and regional bodies, including ASEAN, have responded with a variety of legal tools spanning the fields of anti-trafficking-in-persons, cybercrime, anti-money laundering, and financial regulation. These laws and frameworks remain unevenly implemented and enforced, leaving questions about how to move forward to counter the threat of today’s scam operations that are scaled, sophisticated, and cross-border in nature.
Join the Stimson Center’s Cyber and Southeast Asia Programs for the launch of three new publications examining legal and normative architectures currently used to bring accountability to the perpetrators of cyber fraud and scams. Each publication examines the ways existing legal frameworks are (or are not) effective in addressing modern online scam operations and explores ways to strengthen them. The publication series is the culmination of a two-year project supported by Global Affairs Canada. This event will provide background on current legal and policy approaches across the three issue areas, identify the gaps and limitations our research has uncovered, and present concrete recommendations for policymakers, law enforcement, and regional institutions seeking to close them.
Featured Speakers
Mina Chiang, Founder & Director, Humanity Research Consultancy
Specialising in modern slavery, human rights, and poverty, Mina has an interdisciplinary background in engineering, sociology, anthropology and international development. She has consulted in some of the world’s poorest and conflict-affected countries, with research experience in modern slavery, forced labour, and human rights issues across a wide range of UN bodies, governments, and NGOs. Additionally, Mina is a peer review colleague at the UK Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre
Andrew Wasuwongse, Country Director, Thailand, International Justice Mission Thailand
Andrew has served as Country Director for International Justice Mission (IJM) Thailand, based in Bangkok, Thailand, since 2019. He leads IJM Thailand’s team of lawyers, social workers, caseworkers, interpreters, advocates and criminal justice professionals to assist victims and the Thai government in cases of forced labor and labor trafficking. He holds an M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Jeea Saraswati will closing remarks and only join us around 9:15am. Her title is Director, Anti-Crime and Counter-Terrorism Capacity Building Program, Global Affairs Canada.
Allison Pytlak, Senior Fellow and Cyber Program Director, Stimson Center
Pytlak is a cybersecurity expert whose work focuses on the intersection of cyber operations, international relations, and UN governance frameworks. She leverages extensive experience in arms control and disarmament to advance international law, norms, and strategies to reduce cyber harm, with a focus on accountability, deterrence, and cybercrime. Previously, she worked with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, where she monitored UN cyber processes and advocated for civil society participation while highlighting gender and human rights dimensions. She has over 15 years of experience in international disarmament advocacy and holds degrees in International Relations from the University of Toronto and the City University of New York.
Courtney Weatherby, Fellow and Deputy Director, Southeast Asia and Energy, Water, & Sustainability Programs, Stimson Center (Moderator)
Courtney Weatherby is a Fellow and Deputy Director of the Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia and Energy, Water, and Sustainability programs. Her work takes a multi-sector lens to explore and address challenges related to energy, infrastructure, online scam operations, critical minerals, and water governance. She focuses on the Mekong region, where she has led major policy reports and supports platforms like the Mekong Dam Monitor and Mekong Infrastructure Tracker. She previously worked with the State Department, CSIS, and Human Rights Watch, and holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in Asian and East Asian Studies.
Featured Speakers
Hyunseung Lee, Founder, North Korea Young Leaders Assembly and Lead Strategist, Global Peace Foundation
Hyun-Seung Lee is a North Korean escapee and influential policy strategist with deep firsthand experience in the DPRK’s military, youth leadership, and international trade networks. A former sergeant in North Korea’s elite Special Forces and chairman of the Kim Il-sung Socialist Youth League in Dalian, China, he was actively involved in the regime’s overseas trade operations, particularly in shipping and mining sectors with China. Following the political purges after the execution of Jang Song-thaek, Hyun-Seung defected in late 2014. Since arriving in freedom, he has emerged as a prominent advocate for North Korean human rights and a leading voice on unification policy. He currently serves as Lead Strategist at the Global Peace Foundation, where he designs and leads initiatives focused on Korean unification, freedom of information, and leadership development. He is also the founder of the North Korean Young Leaders Assembly (NKYLA), a groundbreaking program that prepares young North Korean escapees to engage directly with policymakers, diplomats, and experts in Washington, D.C., and at the United Nations.
Gumhyok Kim, Spokesperson, People Power Party and Fulbright Scholar, University of Washington
Gumhyok Kim was born in Pyongyang, North Korea, in 1991, and raised as a member of the country’s elite class. He entered Kim Il Sung University before being sent to Beijing in 2010 for further studies. It was there, through conversations with Western students and access to the internet, that he first learned the devastating truths about North Korea, and became determined to awaken others to these realities. He began secretly discussing human rights and democracy with fellow North Korean students in Beijing, hoping to lay the groundwork for transforming North Korea into a normal country. When his activities were discovered by North Korean authorities, he fled to South Korea in 2012 to avoid arrest. Today, Gumhyok is a prominent voice on North Korean issues as a television news commentator, Radio Free Asia analyst, human rights activist, and YouTube creator with over 150,000 subscribers.
Jihyang Kim, Researcher and Fulbright Scholar, University of Illinois Chicago
Jihyang Kim is a North Korean defector, a 2025–2027 Fulbright Scholar, and a graduate student in Education at the University of Illinois Chicago. Born and raised in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province, North Korea, she escaped the regime with her young son in 2016 following the severe economic hardship caused by the 2009 currency reform. After resettling in South Korea, she overcame an extremely limited elementary-level education received in North Korea to excel academically, earning multiple awards and leadership recognition. Her research focuses on literacy development, reading difficulties, and educational equity for students from diverse and marginalized backgrounds. In addition to her academic pursuits, Jihyang has been an active public speaker and advocate, raising awareness about the realities of North Korean defectors and human rights issues in North Korea.
Martyn Williams, Senior Fellow, Stimson Center and 38 North
Martyn Williams is a Senior Fellow with the Stimson Center, where he works primarily with the 38 North project. His primary interests are in North Korea’s technology, infrastructure, broadcasting system and propaganda. He launched the North Korea Tech website in 2010 and has closely followed the country’s steps onto the global Internet.
Jenny Town, Senior Fellow, Stimson Center and Director, 38 North (Moderator)
Jenny Town is a Senior Fellow at the Stimson Center and the Director of 38 North. Her areas of expertise include North Korea, US-DPRK relations, US-ROK alliance relations and extended deterrence, and Northeast Asia regional security. She was named one of Worth Magazine’s “Groundbreakers 2020: 50 Women Changing the World” and one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business in 2019 for her role in co-founding and managing 38 North, which provides policy and technical analysis on North Korea.
