By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

A young couple was caught Tuesday for robbing four bars to raise funds for an abortion.

According to Seoul Seodaemun Police Station, 32-year-old Kim ran into a bar in Bukgajwa-dong in Seoul Feb. 17, threatened the owner, Han, and took her money. Kim and his 25-year-old wife, Park, committed four such robberies, netting some two million won ($1,430), police said.

Police said it was their financial difficulties that drove them to become criminals. Kim lost his job in a furniture factory in January, where he earned 80,000 won ($57) a day. His becoming jobless made life for the family with a five-year-old daughter in their 33-square-meter home difficult. ``They delayed payments for electricity and tap water and seemed to have struggled to make ends meet,'' a police officer said.

The husband said they needed the money for his wife, who is about three months pregnant, to get an abortion. ``They said they couldn't afford it,'' an officer said.

The police booked the couple without detention.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr