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Three teenage gold thieves arrested, charged in Incheon

Published: 18 Feb. 2026, 12:34 Updated: 18 Feb. 2026, 19:12

Gold bars are displayed at a jewelry store in Seoul on Feb. 2. [NEWS1]

Police arrested three teenagers who stole gold necklaces and bracelets worth about 10 million won ($6,900) from a jewelry store in Incheon during the Lunar New Year holiday, authorities said Tuesday.

The Incheon Namdong Police Precinct said that it booked the three teenagers without detention on charges of theft.

The suspects allegedly stole the gold items at around 3 p.m. on Saturday after pretending to browse products while saying they wanted to buy gold. They then grabbed an 18.75-gram (0.66 ounces) gold necklace and an 18.75-gram gold bracelet and ran away.

About two hours later, one of the suspects tried to sell the stolen items at another jewelry store in Incheon. The store owner reported the suspect to police, who arrested the teenager at the scene.

Police tracked down the other two suspects and arrested them at around 7 p.m. the same day.

“We stole the gold because gold prices have risen sharply recently and we planned to use the money for entertainment expenses and living costs,” the suspects told police.

Police discovered that the teenagers fall within the age range subject to criminal punishment, not the category of so-called juvenile offenders under 14 who are exempt from criminal liability. Still, officers chose to continue the investigation without detention, citing the fact that they are still teenagers and the fact that authorities recovered all of the stolen gold.

The jewelry store owner who reported one of the suspects and contributed to the arrest will receive a crime reporting reward, police said.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM JI-HYE [[email protected]]