Shoplifting increases along with rise in unmanned stores
A customer uses a self-payment kiosk at an unmanned store in Seoul, in this July 13 photo. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiThe number of unmanned stores has risen as shop owners have sought to cut costs due to financial burdens suffered from the increase in the basic wage and a dearth of customers due to the COVID-19 pandemic along with the proliferation of online shopping options. Along with the increasing number of such stores, however, the number of cases of theft taking place in the absence of staff has also been rising.According to the National Police Agency, the number of shoplifting incidents at unmanned stores surged from 203 in 2019, to 367 in 2020 and 686 from January to May of this year.In December of last year, three minors shoplifted at five different stores in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, for three hours using a stolen car. On Sept. 5, two teenagers were arrested for stealing 7 million won from 19 unmanned stores by opening the self-payment machines with a crowbar in multiple cities.An owner of one such store recently wrote on social media, “There have been three the
