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S. Korea’s youngest policewoman arrests armed robber

February 4, 2015

(Yonhap)

By Lee Ji-hye

The nation’s youngest female police officer turned heads this week by arresting an armed robber in Ulsan within a few minutes of when orders were given.

Woo Jung-su, 19, an officer with the Ulsan Nambu Police Station, arrested a thief Tuesday after he stole a credit card and a smart phone from the owner of single resident occupancy building.

Woo and a sergeant responded to a call around 2:15 p.m., which described the suspect as wearing a white parka and being 180 centimeters tall.

Woo spotted a man that fit the description at a nearby ATM and approached him. After questioning, the man — who was holding a large cooking knife — admitted the crime. Woo pinned his arms behind his back and arrested him.

The arrest took about three minutes.

“All I thought of was that I had to catch him,” Yonhap News Agency quoted Woo as saying. “I’m just glad that my instincts and actions were accurate.”

“With the sergeant’s quick judgment, I was able to arrest the criminal,” Woo said, adding that even the burglar seemed surprised at how quick the police came.

Woo passed the official recruitment test for officers in her senior year of high school as her friends took the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT).

“I wanted to finish studying quickly so I could find my dream,” Woo said. “I considered going to college, or doing something else ― but I was lucky to have passed the police officer exam on my first attempt,” she said.