"Sent the Car with All His Assets to the Junkyard"…20s Police Officer Helps 70s Elderly Man Recover Cash Bundle

Recovering Retirement Savings Accumulated Over Several Years
Police Officer Hong Chanhyeok: "I Just Did What Was Naturally Right"

A man in his 70s who lost his entire life savings after years of hard work recovered the money with the help of the police.

According to Yanggu Police Station in Gangwon on the 19th, on the 7th, a man in his 70s, Mr. A, visited the police station’s civil affairs office and requested help, saying, "I sent the vehicle where I kept my precious life savings of 16 million won to the scrapyard."

The money was for retirement expenses such as hospital bills, saved while running a small restaurant with his wife. Mr. A had asked a local repair shop in Yanggu-gun to scrap his old Starex van, but only realized a few days later that he had forgotten to take the bundles of cash stored inside the vehicle.

Rushing back to the repair shop, Mr. A was told, "The car has probably already gone into the furnace," and had to turn away. He also visited the scrapyard and steel mill but found no results.

Thank you letter from Mr. A who arrived at the police station. [Image provided by Yanggu Police Station]

In response to Mr. A’s request, Police Officer Hong Chan-hyeok (26) from the Yanggu Police Station’s Community Safety Division searched various places and found Mr. A’s vehicle just before it was scrapped, recovering his entire life savings.

Mr. A wrote a letter of thanks and sent it to the chief of Yanggu Police Station. In the letter, he wrote, "Officer Hong searched many places and found my entire life savings of about 16 million won inside the vehicle just before it was scrapped. I am indescribably grateful to the police officer who did not give up and saved me, so I could not just stay silent and decided to send a letter of thanks to the police chief."

Officer Hong Chan-hyeok said, "I just did what any police officer should do," and added, "I will continue to strive to be a trusted police officer working together with the community."

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