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Police search for owner of 25 million won in cash found in garbage bag

Published: 06 Mar. 2026, 20:02

Banknotes worth 25 million won ($16,800) were found in a discarded trash bag next to a villa in Geumgok-dong, Dong District, Incheon, on Feb. 10. [INCHEON JUNGBU POLICE PRECINCT]

Police are searching for the owner of a garbage bag that contained 25 million won ($16,800) in cash that was discarded near a multifamily building in Incheon.

A report was filed on Feb. 10 after bundles of cash were discovered in a 20-liter (5.2-gallon) garbage bag left beside a villa building in Geumgok-dong, Dong District, Incheon, according to the Incheon Jungbu police precinct on Friday.

The person who reported had been collecting used clothing. While checking the garbage bag, he found bundles of cash hidden beneath old clothes and alerted the police.

The money was packed in 100 50,000-won bill stacks bound with bank straps.

Police conducted a fingerprint analysis on the cash but have not been able to identify the owner.

They are now going through the process of locating the owner by posting notices on the Korean National Police Agency’s lost-and-found portal and in local newspapers.

If no owner comes forward after six months police plan to transfer ownership of the cash to the finder.

If the owner is identified, however, the finder may receive compensation amounting to 5 percent to 20 percent of the value of the lost property under the Lost Articles Act.

“We have not yet been able to identify the owner, and we will also check whether the cash is linked to a crime,” a police official 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 JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]