Police have sought an arrest warrant for a woman in her 30s suspected of setting fire to the parking lot of a low-rise multi-unit housing building, known locally as a villa, in Seoul's Songpa district.
The Songpa Police Station said on the 19th that it had requested an arrest warrant for the woman, identified only as A, on charges of arson of an occupied structure.
A is suspected of starting the fire at about 12:37 a.m. the previous day in the first-floor parking lot of a multi-unit building in Munjeong-dong, Songpa district. The building is owned by A's mother, and the two had been living on different floors of the property, according to police.
During questioning, A told investigators that she had been drinking and set fire to a pile of wastepaper because she disliked her mother collecting discarded paper for money, police said.
The fire, which started in the open-pillar first-floor parking lot, left eight residents with minor injuries including smoke inhalation, and three vehicles were destroyed. Another 20 residents evacuated on their own.
Police said they plan to question A further to determine the exact circumstances of the incident.