Russian refugee who escaped the war shares how she lost her only credit card in Korea and found it again the next day

At about 3:30 PM on October 20, a foreign woman came to the police station at the Seoul Forest District in Seongdong-gu, Seoul asking for help. She spoke with a mixture of English and broken Korean, explaining that she had lost her only working credit card, which holds her entire liquid assets.

A young woman (age 20) of Russian nationality entered Korea last month to escape the Ukrainian war. She fled to South Korea after seeing her friends become arrested while protesting against the war in Russia. However, she could not use her bank cards in South Korea due to the international financial sanctions against Russian banks.

Therefore, she was only able to use one card issued from Armenia, a country in Western Asia. However, she lost the card, and in hopes of finding her card, she came into a police patrol station while shedding tears.

She explained, "I'm a foreigner, so I can't get a card issued in Korea. I have to go to Armenia to get it reissued, but I don't have the money right now," and asked the policemen for their help.

Police Officer Lee Won Jae (age 26), a second-year police officer, came to her aid. The police officer spoke English and comforted the young woman. At first, he called the Russian embassy, ​​credit card company, and more. However, he was told the Russian embassy could not help either, and the individual must fly back to Armenia in person to get her card reissued.

Police officer Lee also called the Visa card company just in case. He was told the young woman could receive an international emergency services card.

Nevertheless, Police officer Lee didn't stop there. He went out with the woman to the area where she lost her card and helped her look for the card. They looked around for hours when a guard at a nearby building suddenly approached them and handed them a card. It was the same card that the woman had lost.

The policeman received an unexpected text message the next day. It was a long message written in English. The woman wrote a message to the policeman saying, "Thank you very much, Police Officer Lee Won Jae. It was the only card that my friends and I could use. Thank you so much for doing your best to help me. I was touched by the actions of the Korean police."

Policeman Lee Won Jae explained, "This was a special situation where she was not able to get her card reissued due to the war, and international bank transactions were blocked due to economic sanctions. I was really happy that I was able to help the refugee who escaped to our country of Korea."

K-netizens commented, "She must not know Korea too well. People aren't interested in taking your cards or laptops; you just need to be careful with your bikes and seats at a cafe," "In Korea, even if people see a credit card on the floor, they just pass by it, that's how our country is," "I lose my cellphone a lot because I'm clumsy, but I always find it again. Korea is a good country," "You don't have to worry about theft in Korea," and "What's interesting is that people don't steal laptops or cards here in Korea, just bicycles. Someone stole my kid's bike twice."