[Anchor]
A man in his 70s who injured 26 people in a series of arson attacks at buildings in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul, was transferred to prosecutors today (October 29) in police custody. Police added attempted murder charges to his existing arson charges, stating that he searched for a specific individual before committing the crime and set fire right in front of the office's only escape route.
Reporter Lee Tae-gwon has more.
[Reporter]
A man wearing glasses emerges from the police station, flanked by investigators.
He is identified as Lee, a man in his 70s who committed a series of arson attacks at two buildings in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul, on the 20th.
The Seoul Suseo Police Station transferred Lee into custody today on charges of arson resulting in injury to an inhabited building and attempted murder.
Ever since his arrest and throughout the police investigation, Lee has claimed that he was "defrauded by a patent corporation," and today he once again voiced grievances that the police failed to conduct a proper investigation.
When asked by reporters whether he felt any remorse for the victims, he told them to be quiet and even hurled insults.
[Lee / Serial Arsonist: (So did you intend to kill everyone at the patent corporation?) Stop talking about that! (Do you have nothing to say to the victims?) Hello!]
Lee is accused of injuring 26 people by setting fires consecutively around 11:55 a.m. on the 3rd floor of Shinmyung Building and around 12:00 p.m. on the 4th floor of Hanyang Building on the 20th.
Among the victims, a patent attorney was rushed to the hospital in cardiac arrest and is currently receiving treatment.
According to the police investigation, Lee pre-planned the crime by purchasing 17 liters of gasoline from a gas station near his residence on the 19th.
While police previously applied only the charge of arson resulting in injury to an inhabited building, they added the charge of attempted murder after determining that he had intent to cause the deaths of an unspecified number of people. This conclusion was based on evidence showing he searched for a specific person right before the arson and unhesitatingly set fire to the entrance of the office, which was effectively the sole escape route.
Additionally, police held a personal information disclosure deliberation committee yesterday and decided to disclose Lee's identity on the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency website for 30 days starting from November 3, citing the severity of the damage and the brutality of the crime methods.
(Video by: Kim Se-kyung | Video Editing by: Kim Jun-hee)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.