Police have arrested a suspect in a series of arson attacks tied to consecutive building fires in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul's Gangnam district.
Seoul's Hyehwa Police Station apprehended the suspect, identified only as A, at around 4:16 p.m. on the 20th near Exit 1 of Dongmyo Station in Jongno district, police said. The suspect is believed to have moved through the Dongdaemun and Jongno districts after the alleged attacks.
A fire broke out on the third floor of the Shinmyung Building in Yeoksam-dong at around 11:54 a.m. that day, followed about seven minutes later by a blaze on the fourth floor of the Hanyang Building, 200 to 300 meters away. Patent law firms occupied the floor where each fire started, according to investigators.
The two fires injured a total of 19 people. At the Shinmyung Building, two were seriously injured and nine suffered minor injuries, while 60 people evacuated on their own. One of the seriously injured, a woman in her 30s who had gone into cardiac arrest, regained breathing while being transported to a hospital. At the Hanyang Building, three were seriously injured and five sustained minor injuries.
Police plan to question the suspect about the circumstances and motive behind the attacks.