Koreans ignore scattered cash in Seoul Square

Authorities attempting to ‘clean up’ the piles of cash on the streets of downtown Seoul. Screen Grab from The Korean Herald.

One of the most bizarre things you won’t probably see anywhere else in the world happened in South Korea last Monday, when an unidentified woman threw a ridiculous amount of money all over Seoul Square, yet no one has attempted to pick it up.

According to reports from the Korea Herald, passersby completely ignored the scattered bills on the pavement—except for a few who took photos of the scene.

The Seoul-based newspaper revealed that a 56-year-old woman threw the bills amounting to 2 million won (P79,880) on the streets of the capital’s business district around 5 p.m. last Monday.

Surprisingly, the incident did not cause any major disruptions despite the large amount of cash lying on the concrete—which was practically available to anyone interested.

As it turns out, picking up unattended money in South Korea could hold anyone criminally liable for theft.

Only the police, who later responded to the scene, were forced to retrieve the scattered money.

While the law prohibits picking up unattended cash, the Korea Herald further explained that the woman “had actually intended to give up her rights to the money,” so there was actually no legal basis to punish those who gathered the bills.

Meanwhile, the police probe revealed that the woman withdrew a total of 42 million won from the bank a few days before the incident.

She decided instead to donate the cash to anyone on the street, for fear that her former husband and son would try to take all the money from her.

Authorities say the woman is not under threat from her family nor in need of police protection. RAM