"Living as a Nonexistent Person for 75 Years..." Police Helped the 'Theft Offender' Grandmother, Who Was an Unregistered Person, Find Her Family Registry

Chief Park Chang-ho of Chungju Police Station and staff members gave a new life to Grandma A, who had lived as a person without a family register for 75 years, by creating a family register for her. Photo by Chungju Police Station

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Seohyun] A heartwarming story has emerged about the police finding the family register of a grandmother who lived as a stateless person without a resident registration for 75 years.

According to the Chungju Police Station on the 9th, while investigating about 30 cases of agricultural product theft recently occurring in rural Chungju, the police identified and arrested a 75-year-old grandmother, A, as a suspect through analysis of closed-circuit television (CCTV).

However, Grandma A was a stateless person without registered fingerprints.

Having lost her parents at the age of 12, she lived alone ever since her older sister, three years her senior, left saying she would earn money. Grandma A spent her 20s to 50s working as a housemaid and doing odd jobs in restaurants. In her 60s, she settled in a lodging house located in Judeok-eup, Chungju City, and continued her life by selling wild vegetables at the market.

It is reported that Grandma A, unable to pay the lodging rent of 150,000 won per month, touched agricultural products in the fields, knowing it was theft.

After arresting Grandma A, the police planned to detain her for illegal residence. However, Park Chang-ho, chief of the Chungju Police Station, judged that detention was not a fundamental solution to prevent recidivism. He ordered a non-custodial transfer and began supporting the search for Grandma A’s family register.

The police opened a mobile phone line to contact Grandma A and, with the help of the Korea Legal Aid Corporation, are proceeding with the creation of Grandma A’s family register. Once the family relationship registration decision is made, Grandma A will have a family register that she never had in her life.

They also applied for emergency welfare services at the local community service center to help her receive rice and masks regularly. Once the family register is issued, she will be able to receive basic living security benefits along with stable housing.

Grandma A, moved to tears by the police’s help, reportedly said, "I lived as if I didn’t exist in this world, but now I can go to the hospital if I get sick."

Chief Park said, "Although she committed crimes to make a living, I felt sorry for Grandma A, who lived and will leave without a trace," and added, "I hope she lives proudly as a citizen of the Republic of Korea and reunites with her sister from whom she was separated."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.