Bundles of Cash Found in a Pile of Trash "We Will Help Find the Owner"

Worked 30 Years Only at the Landfill
"Just Did My Job" Receives Letter of Appreciation

A worker in his 60s who found 29 million won in cash accidentally discarded at a landfill site received a letter of appreciation from the police chief.

On the 21st, the Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Corporation (SL Corporation) announced that Lee Doo-ho, chief of the Incheon Western Police Station, awarded a letter of appreciation to Park Jae-geun (63), a waste unloading worker who discovered a bundle of cash last month at the third landfill site of Sudokwon Landfill. Chief Lee said in the letter of appreciation, "You contributed to finding a large amount of cash and returning it to its owner," and "We express our deep gratitude."

Bundles of cash found at the Sudokwon Landfill Site on the 1st of last month [Photo by Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Corporation, Yonhap News]

Park is affiliated with a subcontractor company that performs waste landfill work and related construction, and he has worked at the Sudokwon Landfill for over 30 years. He humbly said, "While working at the landfill for a long time, I often received earnest requests to find items with stories behind them. Sometimes I couldn't find the items, but this time I was lucky to discover a bundle of cash," adding, "I was just doing my job, but I am overwhelmed by the many compliments." Earlier, the Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Corporation also presented him with a commendation, stating, "He reported the discovery of the cash bundle first according to the relevant procedures and contributed to fostering a culture of integrity."

On the morning of the 1st of last month, around 8 a.m., Park was working with construction equipment on waste landfill operations at the lower part of Block D, third landfill site in Seo-gu, Incheon, when he found two 50,000 won bills on the ground. Later, he found additional bundles of cash and damaged bills nearby. The total cash Park found amounted to 29 million won. Five bundles of 100 bills each of 50,000 won were inside a black plastic bag, and the remaining 4 million won in 50,000 won bills were scattered around the landfill site.

Landfill worker Park Jae-geun (right), who received a commendation from the Chief of Incheon Western Police Station
[Photo by Sudogwon Landfill Management Corporation, Yonhap News]

Based on documents found at the scene, including a subscription savings deposit certificate, the police identified the owner of the cash bundle. The owner was identified as Mr. A, who had an address in the metropolitan area. However, Mr. A had passed away over two years ago, and it was confirmed that his family, unaware of the cash bundle inside the black plastic bag, discarded it during the process of sorting his belongings, which led to the bag being sent to the landfill. The police delivered the recovered cash from the landfill to the bereaved family following proper procedures.

Meanwhile, in January, a newly appointed off-duty police officer found a bundle of cash in a discarded mattress and returned it to its owner. On January 24th, police officer Go Seong-ju (25) went out to dispose of an old desk at a recycling station in Baegun-dong, Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi Province, around 2:16 p.m., when he noticed something unusual. A mattress was discarded at the recycling station, and several crumpled 50,000 won and 10,000 won bills were visible tucked into the mattress gap. Surprised, Officer Go immediately reported it to 112, and officers from the Ansan Danwon Police Station Wonsun Substation arrived at the scene.

They took out all the bills from the mattress and counted them using a bill counter. As a result, the discarded mattress contained 120 bills of 50,000 won and 1,197 bills of 10,000 won, totaling 17.97 million won. The police checked the address on the waste disposal sticker attached to the mattress to search for the owner. Fortunately, with the help of the apartment security guard, they were able to find the mattress owner.

The mattress owner was an 80-year-old woman, Ms. B, living in the apartment complex. Having lost her husband and living alone for over two years, Ms. B received 1 million won monthly from her son for living expenses and stored leftover money in the mattress gap. On the day the mattress was discarded, remodeling work was scheduled at Ms. B’s home. However, her child, who came from another region, was unaware of the money saved in the mattress and decided to discard it. An interior contractor moved the mattress to the recycling station. Ms. B nearly lost a large sum of money, but thanks to the keen eye of the new police officer and the prompt action of the responding officers, all the money was fortunately recovered.

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