By Nam Hyun-woo
Police are chasing a foreigner who allegedly took shots up the skirt of a woman at a department store in Ulsan.
According to the Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency on Monday, the foreigner was seen taking photos of the woman by using his mobile phone on an escalator in a Hyundai Department Store in Ulsan.
A customer witnessed this and tried unsuccessfully to take his phone. As they squabbled, three other customers and employees grabbed him minutes later and handed him over to the store’s security guards.
But the department store released him without reporting the incident to the police on the grounds that the victim did not want to press any charges and there was insufficient evidence to prove that he actually took photos.
“Since there was no evidence to accuse him of molestation, we did not report it to the police,” an official at the store said.
However, witnesses at the scene denounced the reaction, claiming that the store was more concerned about its brand image.
As criticism mounted, police decided to look for the man.
“With almost no information about his identity, police are reviewing closed circuit TV footage,” an officer said.