hankyoreh

The residents of an apartment complex in Seoul's Seongsu-dong woke up to quite a shock Wednesday morning. The stainless steel gate to the complex had disappeared in the night. They called the police, who arrested two brothers in their 30s who live in nearby Noyu-dong, and accuse them of trying to sell the gate, worth 1.5 million won (US$1,600), to a local junk dealer after taking it away on a one-ton truck shortly after midnight.

The two men confessed to their crime, saying they "wanted to earn some spending money by selling some scrap metal."

The rising price of scrap metal is leading to various types of unusual crimes.

In early March, a man and his son were arrested while trying to steal iron gates and metal window frames from a construction site.

The price of scrap metal has jumped 30 percent over the past year.

Bak Seong-won runs his own scrap metal collection business in Seoul's Naegok-dong. "Half a year ago, quality scrap used to cost 220 won a kilogram. Now it's more than 300 won," he said. "Production isn't keeping up, so there's a shortage."

On Thursday, police in Seoul detained 40 members of an organized crime syndicate on allegations the gang was involved in stealing a total of 1.2 billion won worth of used steel from construction sites in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. The gang's boss and two others are facing formal charges.

Police were first alerted to their organized and systematic steel heist when the gang brought 30 handicapped persons to a construction site in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, on January 29 and assaulted the site foreman and several construction workers before making off with 100 million won worth of steel. Authorities believe the group took more than 1 billion won worth of metal from 18 construction sites during a 13-month period beginning last February.

In Korea, handicapped individuals sometimes turn to crime because of a poor social safety net and unequal opportunity in employment that goes largely unregulated.

The gang is believed to have entered the market for scrap metal when prices began to rise last year. It started as an organization that profited from dominating the street vendor business in clothing markets like Seoul's Dongdaemun Market, but has since found steel more profitable.

"We're looking into other intelligence about crime syndicates getting involved in the used steel business as a new source of cash," said Kim Baek-seop, head of Seoul police's violent crime division.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]