A man in his 70s suspected of setting fire to two office buildings in the Yeoksam neighborhood of Seoul's Gangnam district, injuring more than 10 people, acted out of grievance against a patent law firm over the process of registering a trademark overseas, according to investigators. Because both sites he set ablaze housed patent law firm offices, police believe he acted out of anger over a patent-related matter and plan to investigate his motive.
According to reporting by The Seoul Economic Daily on the 21st, the man, identified only as A, who was arrested on arson charges, shouted an answer to reporters asking about his motive as he entered Suseo Police Station at about 6:15 p.m. the previous day: "Because the patent law firm defrauded me."
Asked whether he held a grudge against the patent firm, he said, "I filed a patent in 2000, and they defrauded me," while showing reporters a printout of text messages and urging them to photograph it. The printout contained a message reading, "I believe I sent you these documents. You can treat this as the registration certificate." The context suggests the message was sent by the patent firm.
Asked how long he had been preparing, A said, "Preparing? About three days." Asked whether he had anything to say to the victims, he said, "Tell them not to defraud anyone again."
According to fire authorities, a fire broke out at about 11:54 a.m. the previous day on the third floor of the Shinmyung Building in Yeoksam, Gangnam district. Eleven people were injured and taken to hospitals in the blaze at the building, which has two basement levels and seven floors above ground. Two suffered serious injuries and nine minor injuries. One of the seriously injured was transported in cardiac arrest but later regained the ability to breathe on their own. Sixty people in 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 district office and 56 pieces of equipment were mobilized to extinguish the fire.
At about 12:01 p.m., just seven minutes after the first fire, another 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 classified as having minor injuries, but after some patients' conditions worsened during transport, the tally was revised to three serious and five minor injuries.
Police, suspecting arson in both fires, identified the man in his 70s as a suspect and launched a search. Seoul's Hyehwa Police Station apprehended him near Dongmyo Station at about 4:16 p.m. the previous day and transferred him to Suseo Police Station at about 6:15 p.m. Meeting reporters outside the station, he said, "I filed a patent in 2000, and the firm defrauded me," holding up a sheet of paper containing his claims. Asked when he began preparing, he said, "About three days."
Police investigation found that patent law firms occupied the floors where the fires started in both buildings, and confirmed that A carried out the serial arson out of a grudge. At the Shinmyung Building, a patent law firm occupied the third floor where the fire began, while at the Hanyang Building, patent law firms occupied the third through fifth floors, including the fourth floor where the fire started. The two fires broke out seven minutes apart, and the tenants on the floors of origin were in the same line of business. At the Shinmyung Building, the suspect had been arrested four years earlier, in 2022, after visiting an office in the same building with incendiary material in an attempted arson.
Rescue operations at the scene unfolded under intense pressure during the fires. When firefighters arrived at the Shinmyung Building, some people on the third floor were leaning out of windows awaiting rescue. Firefighters connected a ladder to a pump truck to bring them down. Some people smashed windows with golf clubs and other objects to escape. The two seriously injured were found near the third-floor corridor, and one of them was transported in cardiac arrest before regaining the ability to breathe.
B, a person in their 50s who works on the third floor of the Hanyang Building, said, "Around noon I noticed a commotion and realized there was a fire." He added, "At first people were asking whether they should take their belongings or turn off their computers, but we soon realized it was a real fire." The seriously injured at the Hanyang Building suffered severe breathing difficulty from smoke inhalation, burns or cuts from glass shards, according to accounts. Broken glass remained at the scene along with bloodstains believed to be from the injured.
Fire authorities said they are investigating whether the two fires are linked. Police, who confirmed that the suspect left his home in Gangseo district carrying what appeared to be flammable material before 11 a.m. the previous day, plan to investigate his specific motive, the exact points of origin and the circumstances of the fires.
