A man in his 70s arrested on suspicion of setting fire to two buildings in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, and fleeing the scene claimed that he committed the crime because he had been defrauded by a patent firm.
Appearing at Seoul's Suseo Police Station at about 6:14 p.m. on the 20th wearing a black cap, a white mask and glasses, the suspect, identified only as A, responded to reporters' questions about his motive by saying, "Because of fraud, I filed a patent in 2000 and they committed fraud," while holding out documents he had prepared. Asked when he began preparing the attack, he said, "About three days ago." Asked whether he had anything to say to the victims, he said, "Tell them not to commit fraud again."
A is suspected of setting fire to the third floor of the Shinmyung Building in Yeoksam-dong at about 11:54 a.m. and then to the fourth floor of the Hanyang Building in the same neighborhood at about 12:01 p.m. After fleeing, he was arrested near Dongmyo Station at about 4:16 p.m. the same day.
According to fire authorities, the blaze broke out on the third floor of the Shinmyung Building in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, at about 11:54 a.m. on the 20th. Eleven people were injured and taken to hospitals in the fire at the building, which has two basement levels and seven floors above ground. Two of them were seriously injured and nine suffered minor injuries. One of the seriously injured was transported in cardiac arrest but later regained spontaneous breathing. Sixty people inside the building evacuated on their own.
With multiple casualties feared, fire authorities issued a Level 1 response at about 12:04 p.m. A total of 291 personnel from the fire service, police and the district office, along with 56 pieces of equipment, were deployed to fight the fire. The final search for victims was completed at about 1:22 p.m., and the fire was fully extinguished at about 2:20 p.m.
At about 12:01 p.m., seven minutes after the first fire began, another blaze broke out at the Hanyang Building, about 170 meters away in a straight line. The fire, which started on the fourth floor of the building with two basement levels and 10 floors above ground, injured eight people who were taken to hospitals. All were initially assessed as having minor injuries, but some patients' conditions worsened during transport, and the toll was reclassified as three seriously injured and five with minor injuries. The fire was fully extinguished at about 12:35 p.m.
A patent attorney, identified only as B, who worked at a patent firm's office on the third floor of the Shinmyung Building, was found in cardiac arrest in a hallway and taken to a hospital. B's husband, who worked at the same office, was also at the scene and was injured.
Police confirmed that the suspect left his residence in Gangseo District carrying what is believed to be a flammable substance before 11 a.m. that day, and they plan to investigate the exact point of ignition, how the fires started and whether both were set by the same person.