2 Pakistani embassy staff arrested for shoplifting in South Korea

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is misleading.

The iVerify Pakistan conducted a keyword search to find the news stories regarding the incident.

Posts from Indian users on social media platform X on July 9, 2025, claimed that two Pakistani diplomats had allegedly been arrested for shoplifting at a store in Seoul, South Korea. However, the incident is from 2021.

HOW IT STARTED

On July 9, an Indian Hindutva account shared screenshots from two news stories, including from media outlet The Korea Times, with the following caption: “Two Pakistani diplomats in South Korea arrested for stealing Hat and Chocolates worth $10 (Rs 850).”

The post did not identify the first media outlet and nor did it provide links to the two reports.

The post was viewed over 106,000 times.

The same claim was shared here (13,000 views), here, here, here, here, here and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and keen public interest in the conduct of Pakistani officials abroad.

A keyword search for “The Korea Times“, “Pakistan diplomats” and “shoplifting” yielded no news reports from any domestic, Korean or international media outlets.

Instead, the Korea Times news story attached to the claim was published on April 26, 2021.

According to the report, the police said two diplomats from the Pakistani embassy in Korea were caught allegedly shoplifting at a store in Seoul.

“Yongsan Police Station said the two were caught stealing items worth 11,000 won ($10) and 1,900 won ($1.70), respectively, at the same store in Itaewon, Yongsan District, on different dates,” the report said, adding that both suspects had diplomatic immunity.

Lahore-based newspaper The Nation had also covered the incident in a report on April 27, 2021.

The outlet had contacted Pakistan’s ambassador to South Korea at the time, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, who had confirmed the incident but rejected reports that both employees were diplomats.

She said the embassy was cooperating with the police in the investigation.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: MISLEADING

The claim that two Pakistani diplomats have been arrested for shoplifting in Korea is misleading.

The incident originally occurred in April 2021 and omitting this crucial context has the potential to misguide the public into thinking it is a recent or current development. The claim also misused their association with the Pakistan embassy since their status as diplomats or merely embassy employees was under dispute, as per reports from the time.

Evidence and References

April 25, 2021, The Korea Times report:
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/law-crime/20210425/two-pakistan-embassy-employees-caught-allegedly-shoplifting

April 27, 2021, The Nation report:
https://www.nation.com.pk/27-Apr-2021/seoul-police-interrogating-two-pak-embassy-officials