SEOUL (AFP) - - A homeless South Korean unable to withdraw his
life savings because he could not remember his real name has died
in poverty, officials said.
The man, believed to be aged 56, died of cancer last month,
leaving 128 million won (just over 100,000 dollars) in a bank
account that was opened in early 1993 under the alias of Na
Hae-Dong.
The account was frozen several months later when a law took
effect to ban accounts held under false names, as an
anti-corruption measure.
Deposits were still allowed but the account holder had to
register a real name to withdraw money, something "Na" could not
do.
"He didn't know what his real name was or where he was born. We
tried but failed to identify him," Yoo Joon-Soo, the senior
official of Yongbong district in the southwestern city of Gwangju,
told AFP by phone.
The man collected scrap iron and other junk and slept on his
cart under plastic sheets before moving in 2007 into a makeshift
shelter made from a shipping container.
Though he could not withdraw from the account, he kept putting
in savings.
"He used to say he wanted to buy a home with his savings," Yoo
said.
"Last month, we applied for court approval to create his new ID
and the court procedure was under way."
A local court is expected to order that the savings revert to
the state, he added.
--AFP