As bikes become more popular, and pricey, bicycle-related crimes are also on the rise.

A few weeks ago, Lee Sung-jae, a 25-year-old university student, parked his bicycle on a public bike rack close to Seoul’s Wangsimni Station, safely padlocked. When he got back to the rack the next day, however, what he found was his precious bicycle completely knocked over and without the front wheel.

“I had to carry my bicycle without a wheel all the way back home that day,” he said.

It is not an isolated case. The number of reported bike theft cases came in at about 22,000 in 2014, almost a twofold increase from the previous year. What’s more shocking is that teenagers account for almost 90 percent of all bike thefts, often opportunist crimes spurred by peer pressure.

Local governments are adopting registration systems to prevent bike thefts, but it does not appear to be practical in deterring the larceny, as bike registration is only optional and not controlled by the central government.

The Nam-gu Office in the southern port city of Ulsan is set to adopt the first-ever near field communication system later this year, which will be connected to a smartphone app. Users can get a NFC sticker from local community service centers and register their bike information online. When reported missing, the information is shared online. Anyone who sees suspicious bikes can simply tap their smartphones for access to the owners’ information.

Several other community centers also offer registration services, but not many people are actually using these services.

“Cyclists need to be more cautious,” said Eun Hyung-gi, chief inspector at Anyang’s Galsan Patrol Division. He explained there are thousands of bicycles parked around local private study centers, but the number of public bike racks is insufficient. Also, students often leave their bikes locked by only changing one digit of the correct password on combination locks, not being bothered to properly jumble up the combination, making it more prone to thefts.

The major problem with the bike theft cases is the low arrest rate that discourages victims from filing a police report. Won Dae-nam, an inspector from Anyang Police, said most of the culprits are middle school students, mostly aged 12 to 14, which makes it difficult for police officers to track them down, as they don’t have their fingerprints registered. In Korea, all citizens over 16 need to get their fingerprints registered at local community offices to obtain the national ID card.

“There are even tutorials on YouTube on ‘how to unlock the padlocks on bikes,’” he added, saying teens steal bikes for fun or out of curiosity after watching these videos. Peers also play a significant factor. Like the “down jacket craze” that had been burdening parents over the past few years, expensive premium bicycles have become more widespread among teens.

The two officers also shared an actual case with The Korea Herald, where three college students purloined a bicycle worth about 300,000 won ($270) and were caught by the police in July. Closed circuit cameras showed three young men hovering around a bike parked in front of a cafe in Anyang’s Pyeongchon-dong. They readily took off the seat and tightly coiled up the cord of the lock to pressurize it, whereupon it popped open. The young burglars were later traced down by cameras in the neighborhood.

In a bid to increase the arrest rate, Inspector Eun Hyung-gi stressed the necessity of staff at the local police stations, as there is a need for more people to monitor the cameras.

There is also an increasing number of more “professional” theft cases, where the burglars steal for resale purposes.

“They don’t just steal whole bikes with frames anymore,” said Kim Young-tak, a cycling club DOSSA member. “They can dismantle (bicycles) in less than 2 minutes.” Kim explained that the thieves prefer to steal parts such as saddles, headlights and wheels, as they can put them together and sell the reassembled bicycles through online secondhand markets. In this way, it is not easy to track them down.

To avert theft, experts advised the use of stronger padlocks, preferably thicker U-type locks, and to make sure the bikes are always within sight.

Bike-riding is definitely a healthy and eco-friendly activity that has become a trend over the past few years. Yet, the need seems to be growing for new infrastructure for cyclists, including more security cameras, public bicycle racks and a state-run registration system at the government level.


By Ko Ji-seon (jiseonko@heraldcorp.com)