He carried out his crimes at funerals, where it is a well-observed tradition to remove footwear as a mark of respect.

The man, known only as Park, would then strike. Disguising himself as a mourner, he’d remove his own cheap pair of shoes and walk off with a flashier pair.

Luckily for the distraught shoe owners, police brought the thief to heel when they caught him stealing three pairs of shoes at one funeral parlour.

The 59-year-old was promptly arrested and officers discovered the 1,200 pairs of shoes he’d nabbed laid out neatly in size order in a warehouse.

That’s some feet by our reckoning.

It turned out he was stealing the footwear to sell for his second-hand shoe business.

Clearly, he’s a Seoul trader.

Officers have now laid out the shoes at a police station to be reclaimed by their rightful owners.

If you’re finding this tale at all amusing, just put yourself in the victim’s shoes for a minute. Oh, hang on, they don’t have any…