100,000 Unmanned Stores Are Theft Blind Spots... Over 3,500 Cases in 10 Months Last Year

Most Are Small Amounts but Subject to Punishment
Many Juveniles but Also Adult Repeat Offenders
Voices Criticizing Waste of Police Internal Investigation Resources

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] As the era of 100,000 unmanned stores arrives, theft crimes targeting them are rampant.

According to the National Police Agency on the 24th, the number of theft cases at unmanned stores from March to December last year reached 3,519. While there were only about 200 cases per month in March and April, the number surged to 517 cases in October, showing a sharp increase.

Unmanned stores are easy to start and have no labor cost burden, diversifying into ice cream, side dishes, meal kits, stationery stores, convenience stores, and more. Since they are free businesses that can operate with just business registration, they are excluded from the reporting industry category. Although the exact number of stores is not counted, it is estimated to be around 100,000 nationwide. As theft incidents at unmanned stores increased, the police have been compiling related statistics since March last year.

As theft targeting unmanned stores increases, the police's burden is also growing. Although most theft damages are small amounts under 100,000 won, they are clearly subject to criminal punishment. This is because the police must investigate when reports from unmanned store owners are received. Looking at the National Police Agency's crime statistics, among the 179,517 theft cases in 2020, 5,269 cases involved damages under 100,000 won, accounting for over 30%. A significant portion of these is estimated to be thefts at unmanned stores.

In cases of theft crimes at unmanned stores, many offenders are teenagers or young students, but there is also a possibility of habitual thieves committing these crimes. The police cannot take this lightly. In March this year, a man in his 60s who habitually committed thefts at unmanned convenience stores in Mapo-gu, Seoul, was arrested. In May last year, a suspect who stole a total of about 95 million won in cash by damaging unmanned payment machines at 36 unmanned stores nationwide was also detained.

Although the arrest rate is high due to CCTV analysis, there are criticisms that investigative resources are wasted on simple theft crimes close to minor offenses. A chief of the criminal division at a frontline police station in Seoul said, "We receive 3 to 4 reports related to unmanned stores per week," adding, "Even if the damage amount is small, investigations must be conducted once a report is received, so the workload inevitably increases."