A Man in His 60s Who Lived Without a Resident ID Number All His Life Was Identified After Stealing Two Bottles of Soju

Prosecutor Reviews Records of Livelihood Theft Case, Finds Irregularities
Declared Missing, Presumed Dead... Prosecutor Requests Cancellation of Missing Declaration

A man in his 60s who lived his entire life without a resident registration number regained his identity through the prosecutor's fact-finding efforts.

According to the Human Rights Protection Division of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jang Yuntae) on the 22nd, Mr. A (64) stole two bottles of soju from a box placed in front of a restaurant in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do at around 5:10 a.m. on February 4.

(This photo is not directly related to the article)
[Photo by Pixabay]

Mr. A lived without family and was suffering from severe hardship and deteriorating health.

He was caught by the police, but his resident registration was not found. The police then identified Mr. A’s identity through fingerprint verification. They confirmed the resident registration number recorded in Mr. A’s past criminal records.

Afterwards, the prosecution, which received the case from the police, reviewed the record of the simple livelihood theft case and found irregularities in Mr. A’s identity.

At that time, Mr. A claimed, "The resident registration number confirmed by the police is incorrect, and I have already been declared missing."

When the prosecution checked Mr. A’s family register and certificate of family relations, they found that he had been declared dead after being declared missing.

The Seoul Family Court ruled in October 2013 that Mr. A, who had been reported missing long ago, was "considered deceased as of March 1988."

According to the prosecution’s investigation, Mr. A’s father registered his birth more than 20 years after his birth, but he never received a resident registration number.

Because of this, it was difficult for him to find a job, and without family, he suffered from severe hardship.

After confirming that Mr. A’s claim was true, the prosecution began efforts to find his identity. Through interviews with the petitioner for the missing declaration, they learned that Mr. A had half-siblings, and the prosecution collected oral epithelial cells from the half-siblings to conduct DNA comparative analysis.

After the prosecution’s identity verification process, the analysis showed that Mr. A and his half-siblings shared the same biological father. Subsequently, the prosecution, to restore Mr. A’s identity, directly petitioned the Suwon Family Court to cancel the missing declaration.

Furthermore, regarding the soju theft committed by Mr. A, considering that he had never received a resident registration number throughout his life and thus had no access to social welfare benefits, and that this led to the livelihood-related theft, the prosecution decided to suspend prosecution conditionally with counseling and employment education provided by the Korea Rehabilitation Welfare Corporation.

In addition, once the cancellation of the missing declaration for Mr. A is finalized, the prosecution plans to have him receive a new resident registration number from the administrative welfare center of the local government in charge of his residence, and to apply for basic livelihood security benefits from the local government so that he can receive economic support and benefits such as livelihood and medical aid.

Currently, it is known that Mr. A is diligently fulfilling the measures to pay off his past unpaid fines in installments.

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