“If the shoe fits -its probably the pair Park stole from you.”
Yes, I know it is a little old but it is amazing how brazen people can be. A 59-year-old suspect, identified as Mr. Park, has for some time been going to funeral homes posing as a mourner and steal shoes. As most of you are already aware – it is custom to take one’s shoes off when entering buildings. Mr. Park allegedly would go wearing an old pair of shoes and leave wearing a much more expensive pair of shoes. How long he has been doing this is unknown but police discovered over 1200-1700 pairs of shoes (the number varies depending on the account).
His previous successes and greed seem to have led him to become even more embolden which led to his downfall. According to sky.com, ”his ploy was uncovered when police caught him stealing three pairs of shoes with a retail value of more than £1,000.” Park, who the Daily Contributer likened to Imelda Marcos, denied he stole the shoes and insisted that he purchased them at a second-hand shoe market. Apparently Mr. Park had his own second-hand shoe store.
This video by ITN-UK has an interview with ”a Seoul resident, 60-year-old Lee Jong-yeon [who] said: ‘What an absurd thing. It was the first time in my life I lost my shoes. I was really upset. I have not worn good shoes to funerals ever since”‘ NewTang Dynasty Television also has a video here.
So far about 35 victims have stepped forward to claim their shoes.
I have to admit – I do like UK Metro’s caption for their picture - which I have used above. It seems that on most of the links the readers are having fun making up puns for this strange story so feel free to come up with your own puns.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Was Park a rather heavy-set fellow, carrying a camera?
“ah, just doing a little soul-searching… for kicks”
If I had a dime for every time a newbie English teacher expressed concern about having their shoes stolen, and I assured them “Relax, that never happens . . .”
If they’re not wearing height increasing elevator shoes they’ve little to fear. But if their shoes are stolen…take someone else’s. Hocus pocus, they’ll be 7cm taller, too.
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