"It’s a Place I Frequented"... Before Body Found in Cafe Freezer, 'Normal Operations Resume Tomorrow' Shocks Netizens

The two met for the first time and entered the storage together
CCTV shows only the owner leaving alone
Hundreds of billions of won in forged department store gift certificates found in the storage

A woman in her 60s was found frozen to death in the cold storage of a well-known cafe in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. At the same location, police also uncovered counterfeit department store gift certificates worth several tens of billions of won at face value, and are intensively investigating possible links between the crimes.

According to the Northern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency and Paju Police Station on September 8, the police have arrested and are detaining the cafe operator, identified as Mr. Shin (age 39), on charges of aiding and abetting suicide.

A woman in her 60s was found frozen to death in a cafe's cold storage in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, and the police are investigating. The police arrested the cafe owner in his 30s as a suspect and are investigating him while in custody. The photo shows the cafe where the incident occurred on the 7th. There is a notice stating that the cafe is closed due to internal circumstances. Photo by Yonhap News.

The case surfaced at about 12:06 a.m. on September 4, when police in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul received a report that the victim’s daughter’s mother was missing. After the case was transferred, Paju police traced the victim’s movements using her cell phone location and CCTV footage. At about 2:31 p.m. that day, police apprehended Mr. Shin in a parking lot in Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul. Then, just five minutes later at 2:36 p.m., they discovered the body of Ms. A, a woman in her 60s, frozen near the entrance to the cold storage beside a large cafe in Munsan-eup, Paju.

Police investigation revealed that Ms. A and Mr. Shin did not know each other until right before the incident. The two first met at the cafe at around 11 a.m. on September 3 to discuss a gift certificate deal. Separate from his role as a cafe operator, Mr. Shin had been buying and selling gift certificates for cash as a form of business. He reportedly told Ms. A that the gift certificates were stored in the cold storage and then led her there. CCTV footage showed both entering the storage, with only Mr. Shin leaving afterward.

Counterfeit department store gift certificates worth hundreds of billions of won at face value were found in the storage. Police are investigating whether Mr. Shin attempted to make a deal with Ms. A using the fake certificates and then committed the crime. They are also reviewing the possibility that the victim recognized the certificates were fake and was then confined to the cold storage as a result.

However, it has not yet been determined whether Mr. Shin murdered Ms. A inside the cold storage and abandoned her body, or whether he confined her there while she was still alive, causing her to die from hypothermia or other causes. The police have requested an autopsy from the National Forensic Service to determine the exact cause and time of death. Additionally, they are investigating the manufacturing and procurement route of the counterfeit certificates, whether they were distributed, and the possibility of accomplices.

Controversy has arisen due to the cafe's closure notice following the incident. The cafe announced a temporary closure on the 3rd, when Mr. A and Mr. Shin met, citing "internal store circumstances," and informed that it would "resume normal operations from the 4th." It was investigated that Mr. Shin instructed the staff not to come to work starting the same day. SNS

It is reported that Mr. Shin has admitted to the charges during police questioning. On September 6, the court issued a warrant for his detention, citing concerns about his flight risk and possible destruction of evidence. Meanwhile, there has been controversy online regarding the cafe’s closure notices issued before and after the incident. On September 3, the same day Ms. A and Mr. Shin met, the cafe announced a temporary closure citing “internal store circumstances,” informing customers that normal operations would resume from September 4. On the same day, Mr. Shin reportedly instructed employees not to come to work.

However, on September 5, the day after Mr. Shin’s arrest, an update was posted on the cafe’s social media account stating that business would be suspended for an extended period due to “personal reasons.” Captured images circulating online indicated the cafe would remain closed until October 31.

As news of the closure notices and the case spread across online communities, social media users expressed shock and disbelief, commenting, “It’s even more shocking since I frequented this place,” “It’s chilling to think they planned to reopen after only a single day,” “The origin of the hundreds of billions of won in counterfeit certificates must be clarified first,” and “It’s hard to believe there was a body in a cafe’s cold storage.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.