Diving into water hazards to retrieve lost balls is illegal in S. Korea

By Lim Chang-won Posted : August 11, 2017, 16:44 Updated : August 11, 2017, 16:44

[Yonhap News Photo]


Recycling has become a global conversation topic, but scouring golf course water hazards with rakes at night to reuse "lost balls" is illegal in South Korea.

With no clear judicial precedent over who owns the golf balls deposited in water hazards, five people in two different groups have been charged with theft after police seized more than 120,000 lost balls stacked at their washing plants in the southern city of Iksan.

In the dead of night, the five wearing diving suits have scoured the ponds with homemade rakes on many golf courses nationwide. There are about 500 golf courses in South Korea and dozens of others are under construction.

During an interrogation at a police station in Iksan, they argued they were not stealing from the golf courses because the balls in question were abandoned by those who hit them, according to Yonhap News Agency.

They were not detained but police asked them to stand trial on charges of theft. South Korea has no professional lost ball collectors, but there are plenty of amateur golfers and driving ranges willing to buy them at cheap prices.

 
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