Man Steals Two Packs of Rice Cakes Because He Was Hungry... The Twist Behind the "Modern-Day Jean Valjean"

At around 3:00 a.m. on the 7th, CCTV footage captured a man taking two packs of rice cakes from a refrigerator placed outside a rice cake shop near Dongbu Market in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province.

The owner of the rice cake shop discovered that the rice cakes were missing and immediately reported it to the police. Around 3:00 p.m., the police apprehended 49-year-old Mr. A, who had been sleeping rough in an abandoned building, on charges of stealing the rice cakes.

During police questioning, Mr. A stated, "I stole them because I was hungry."

According to the police investigation, Mr. A lost contact with his mother after his parents divorced when he was seven years old, and his father was also identified as a person with an unknown place of residence.

Since his 20s, he made a living as a daily laborer, moving from one construction site to another, including apartments and houses, through labor agencies.

However, as the construction market worsened following COVID-19, jobs began to disappear one by one, and Mr. A eventually had to leave the studio apartment he was living in last April because he could not pay the rent.

Moving from one cheap inn to another with the little money he had left, Mr. A began sleeping rough in an abandoned building starting last month.

He mostly had to get by on buy-one-get-one-free ramyeon from convenience stores for his meals.

Even his mobile phone service had been cut off due to unpaid bills, but he reportedly searched for job applications by finding places with Wi-Fi and went out to labor agencies in the early morning.

However, there were many days he came away empty-handed.

In fact, daily laborers in the Chuncheon area are experiencing severe difficulties due to a decrease in available work and changes in how manpower is dispatched.

In the past, people would gather at labor agencies starting early in the morning and get dispatched to sites, but with the decrease in available work, attendance and site assignments are reportedly decided over the phone the day before, centering around teams of workers.

Upon learning of Mr. A's unfortunate story, the police finished their investigation on the 8th and connected him with welfare officials at the Chuncheon City Administrative Welfare Center to apply for emergency livelihood support.

To prevent Mr. A from returning to the streets, they also arranged for him to enter a rehabilitation facility for the homeless in Wonju.

Mr. A is currently getting his lodging and meals sorted there while receiving support for vocational training and acquiring licenses.

Mr. A reportedly told the police, "If I just have a job, I will work hard and live."

Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Ahn Jun-hyeok | Graphics by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.