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| A customer uses a self-payment kiosk at an unmanned store in Seoul, in this July 13 photo. Yonhap |
By Bahk Eun-ji
The 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 thefts in the month since I opened the shop."
The police are also having a hard time, saying that the number of unmanned stores and related crimes are increasing, while the number of employees has remained the same, saying that some unmanned stores do not even have proper security.
According to a survey of 195 self-employed people by Job Korea and Albamon, Thursday, 66.7 percent said that they were considering opening unmanned stores due to the prolonged pandemic combined with the rise in the minimum wage.
In July, Korea's Minimum Wage Commission agreed to raise the minimum wage to 9,160 won ($8.02) per hour beginning in 2022, which is a 5.1% increase over the previous minimum wage, but falls short of the 10,000 won per hour requested by unions.
Another survey of 421 self-employed people conducted by recruiting site Albacall in November showed that 55.1 percent of respondents said they had switched to unmanned automated stores from traditional fully staffed ones.
Meanwhile, an online post by a parent criticizing unmanned stores for "tempting children to steal" went viral recently.
The writer, who claimed to be a parent of a 12-year-old elementary school student, said that their son stole a pack of gummy candies at an unmanned store six months ago.
"My 12-year-old son stole candies and goods which amount 30,000 to 40,000 won in the store, and I paid 300,000 won in settlement money to the store, which I didn't even have to pay," the writer said.
"I urge store owners to hire workers unless they want to make all children thieves. Leaving stores wide open encourages young people to shoplift," the writer said.
The post was deleted shortly afterwards, but hundreds of comments were left, many criticizing the parent's attitude.
"The parent seems to be the problem," one online user wrote in a comment. "Even at the same unmanned store, there are children who steal and there are children who do not. The difference seems to be the parents' attitude, not the store owner."
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