He set two buildings on fire in 7 minutes and fled, but was arrested at Dongmyo Station and taken to Suseo.
He was caught in possession of a suspected flammable substance... “I prepared for 3 days…don’t cheat,” he yells.
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporters Jeon Jae-hoon, Jo Hyeon-yeong, and Kim Chae-rin = A man in his 70s, who is suspected of setting fire to two buildings in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 20th and injuring about 10 people, was found to have committed the crime out of dissatisfaction with a patent firm in the process of registering a trademark overseas.
According to Yonhap News coverage, Mr. A, a man in his 70s who was arrested on charges of arson, requested trademark registration from the patent corporation that set the fire earlier.
The patent firm informed Mr. A that only an online registration certificate would be issued due to the nature of the overseas country where Mr. A requested trademark registration, but Mr. A reportedly requested a 'paper registration certificate' and suspected that 'a patent attorney was stealing his trademark.'
In fact, after Mr. A was arrested on this day, on his way to the Suseo Police Station at around 6:15 pm, when asked by reporters about the motive for the crime, Mr. A responded by shouting, "I committed fraud at a patent law firm."
When asked, "Did you have any ill feelings toward the patent firm?", he said, "I filed a patent in 2000, and (the patent firm) committed fraud." He showed me a piece of paper with a text message printed on it and encouraged me to take a picture.
The printout contains the text message, ‘I sent you this document, but you can view this as your registration certificate.’ Given the context, it is presumed to be a text message sent from a patent firm.
When asked about the 'preparation period for the crime', Mr. A replied, "You prepared it? It's been about 3 days."
When asked, 'Do you have anything to say to the victim?', he said, "Please tell (the patent firm) not to commit fraud in the future."
Mr. A is suspected of setting fires on the 3rd floor of Shinmyeong Building in Yeoksam-dong at 11:54 am and on the 4th floor of Hanyang Building in Yeoksam-dong at 12:01 pm.
It was discovered that patent firms were all located in the areas where the fire broke out.
Mr. A was captured on CCTV carrying two plastic containers presumed to contain flammable substances in both hands near his residence in Gangseo-gu this morning.
Afterwards, he was also captured on CCTV holding a plastic container and entering Shinmyeong Building in Yeoksam-dong. He was presumed to have set fire to the Hanyang Building, 200 meters away, following the Shinmyeong Building, and then escaped using the subway.
As a result of tracking Mr. A's movements immediately after the fire, with an emphasis on the possibility of arson, the police determined that after committing the crime, Mr. A took a taxi or walked to Dongdaemun-gu and then fled to Dongmyo Station by subway.
Hyehwa Police Station, which received a request for cooperation from Suseo Station, urgently arrested Mr. A at 4:16 p.m., four hours after the arson was set near Dongmyo Station.
Mr. A was also arrested on charges of arson (preliminary arson) in 2022 by visiting the two buildings that were set on fire that day.
The police believe that Mr. A committed the crime out of dissatisfaction with patent-related issues, as the two places where he set fire that day were offices of a patent firm, and are planning to investigate the motive for the crime.
The police said, “We plan to conduct a detailed investigation into the motive and method of the crime.”
On this day, one person was found in cardiac arrest and 18 people were injured due to Mr. A's arson.
Specifically, Mr. B, a patent attorney who worked at the patent office on the 3rd floor of Shinmyeong Building, was found in cardiac arrest in the hallway and was taken to the hospital. It is reported that Mr. B's husband, who was working with him, was also injured at the scene.
In addition, 9 people were injured in the Shinmyeong Building fire, and about 60 people evacuated on their own.
Eight people were injured in a fire at Hanyang Building, which was about 200 meters away in a straight line. Of the eight people, three showed symptoms of severe breathing difficulties, and the remaining five suffered minor injuries.
The patient was transferred to nearby Hanyang University Hospital, Gangnam Severance Hospital, and Chung-Ang University Hospital.
The fire department responded to the scene this morning after receiving a report that “someone set fire to the fourth floor of the building.”
The Hanyang Building fire was completely extinguished around 12:35 p.m., and the Shinmyeong Building fire was completely extinguished around 2:20 p.m.
