A man in his 20s has been arrested on charges of stealing about 500 million won ($360,000) worth of gold jewelry from a store inside a large discount retailer in the middle of the night.
The Namdong Police Station in Incheon said on the 16th that it had detained the suspect, identified only as A, on charges of nighttime burglary.
The Incheon District Court, presided over by Chief Judge Park Young-ki, issued the arrest warrant that afternoon after questioning the suspect, citing the risk that he might flee.
A is accused of stealing 173 pieces of 14-karat and 18-karat gold bracelets, valued by the shop owner at 500 million won, from a jewelry store on the second floor of the Homeplus Ganseok branch in Namdong District, Incheon, at around 2 a.m. on the 14th.
![[Provided by Incheon Namdong Police Station. Resale and database use prohibited] - Seoul Economic Daily Society News from South Korea](https://wimg.sedaily.com/news/cms/2026/09/16/news-p.v1.20260916.9c4bbde9a8e5466a9ebe9da21f9059fb_P1.gif "Man Arrested After 90-Second Jewelry Heist at Incheon Store")
Wearing a raincoat and a mask to conceal his face, A smashed the glass display case with a blunt object, grabbed the jewelry and fled, police said. Officers tracked him down and took him into custody 12 hours after the crime.
A spent about 10 minutes inside the retail building, but it took him only about 90 seconds to enter the store and take the jewelry.
Ahead of the court hearing, A claimed that he had needed money because of financial hardship, had found the store through an internet portal search and had acted alone.
