Owner of the money found under kimchi fridge revealed

The owner of the 110 million won in cash taped to the bottom of a used kimchi fridge was revealed. The Jeju Western Police Station said on Tuesday that the owner of the 2,200 50,000-won bills discovered on the bottom of a used kimchi fridge on Aug. 6 has been identified as a woman in her 60s who lived in Seoul. The kimchi fridge was delivered to Jeju by a second-hand dealer in Seoul.

The police verified the identity of the woman by analyzing the pharmacy paper bag and hospital discharge record found along with the cash, and the handwriting and fingerprints on the envelope where the cash was found. It was also confirmed that the kimchi fridge sent to Jeju matched the picture of the kimchi fridge the woman’s family had taken while organizing the woman’s belongings to make an estimate. The police did not find anything suspicious about the money since it was the insurance money the woman received and liquidation of her property.

After the woman’s death, her family sold the kimchi fridge to a second-hand dealer without knowing that the cash was taped to the bottom of the fridge. The second-hand dealer did not check the bundle of papers attached to the bottom of the fridge, thinking that it was put there to level the fridge.

A man in his 50s, who reported the case to the police, bought the fridge online, got it delivered, and found the cash taped to the bottom of the fridge while cleaning it. More than 10 bundles of hundreds of 50,000-won bills were wrapped in plastic bags and taped under the fridge.

The woman died in September last year. The police is planning to deliver the cash to the bereaved family. The man who reported it to the police can receive compensation in the extent of not less than 5 percent but not more than 20 percent of the value of the article, according to the Lost Articles Act.


Jae-Young Im jy788@donga.com