Police Approach Thief Posing as Buyer
Stolen Bicycle Posted on Secondhand Trading Platform
A man who tried to sell a stolen bicycle on a secondhand trading app was caught by the police. On the 6th, the National Police Agency's YouTube channel uploaded a video titled "Why is my bicycle on a secondhand trading site?" The video introduced a special theft crime committed by a man identified as Mr. A in Dong-gu, Daegu, on the afternoon of the 9th of last month.
A man who tried to sell a stolen bicycle on a secondhand trading app was caught by the police. On the 6th, the National Police Agency's YouTube channel uploaded a video titled "Why is my bicycle on a secondhand trading site?" The video introduced a special theft crime committed by a man, Mr. A, in Dong-gu, Daegu, on the afternoon of the 9th of last month. [Photo by National Police Agency YouTube]
In the video, CCTV footage from a parking lot in Dong-gu captured Mr. A carrying two bicycles connected by a chain. He had stolen bicycles worth a total of 2 million won that were locked together with a padlock by the roadside. The bicycle owner, Mr. B, reported the theft to the police after noticing his bicycles were missing. Mr. B also mentioned that "there are similar items on a secondhand trading market."
As Mr. B said, Mr. A listed the stolen bicycles on a secondhand trading platform for 450,000 won on the same day. The police approached Mr. A pretending to be a buyer. After confirming that the stolen items were registered on the secondhand trading application (app), the police made an advance payment of 10,000 won and used chat to arrange an in-person transaction. However, Mr. A suddenly insisted on a non-face-to-face transaction and did not show up at the agreed location, only wandering around the area.
In the video, a CCTV camera in an eastern district parking lot captured Mr. A carrying two bicycles connected by a chain. He had stolen bicycles worth a total of 2 million won that were locked together with padlocks by the roadside. [Photo by National Police Agency YouTube]
The police told Mr. A that they did not know the location of the bicycles and lured him to the transaction site. Eventually, when Mr. A appeared at the site and momentarily looked away, the police subdued him immediately. Officers and police cars that had been on standby nearby gathered at the scene to arrest Mr. A. The police apprehended Mr. A on charges of special theft that day and returned the bicycles to their owner.
Laptop? Phone left behind... Why only the bicycle?
In Korea, bicycle theft incidents occur overwhelmingly more frequently compared to other types of theft. According to statistics released by the National Police Agency, in 2022, there were 3,183 cases of burglary, 4,055 cases of store theft, and 278 cases of pickpocketing. In contrast, bicycle theft cases reached 12,033. On online communities, the phrase "I don't understand why Koreans leave their phones or laptops but specifically steal only bicycles" resonates widely, even spawning related memes (internet catchphrases).
Various analyses have been made regarding the frequent occurrence of bicycle theft. The first reason is the low arrest rate. Of the 12,033 bicycle theft cases in 2022, only 3,989 suspects were caught, resulting in an arrest rate of just 33%. This is significantly lower than the average theft arrest rate of 62%. Because the likelihood of punishment is low, awareness of the crime is also low.
The second issue is that bicycle theft is not taken as seriously as other crimes. Moreover, rather than seeking financial gain, many thieves ride someone else's bicycle out of curiosity and then leave it parked elsewhere. Also, most bicycle thieves caught are teenagers. They often profit financially by selling the bicycles on secondhand trading markets, as mentioned earlier.
Additionally, the lack of proper establishment of a bicycle registration system is pointed out as a problem. If the registration system is activated, unique identification numbers can be assigned like car license plates to prevent theft, and discarded bicycles can also be managed. Accordingly, some local governments with high bicycle usage rates, such as Yangcheon-gu and Gangdong-gu in Seoul and Yeonsu-gu in Incheon, have implemented registration systems, but registration rates remain low. In Yangcheon-gu, for example, about 28,000 bicycles were registered at one point in 2016, but many did not re-register after the expiration of the personal information retention period, causing the number of registered bicycles to drop significantly to just 371 as of last year.
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