Man arrested for stealing 1,200 pairs of shoes in Seoul

They came from all around the South Korean capital as victims of an unusual crime. Each had lost an expensive and cherished pair of shoes while attending a funeral.

They were the mourners who had slipped off their shoes out of respect, according to the national tradition, but hadn't noticed the man scanning their footwear.

That man, known only as Park, would then take off his own footwear, put on a more expensive pair and walk off.



Now police in Seoul have meticulously laid out some 1,200 pairs of shoes and appealed for their owners to come and reclaim them.

Park was amassing ranks of buffed and polished slip-ons for his second hand shoe business.

But the 59-year-old has now been arrested for stealing hundreds of pairs of shoes, police said.

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