Arrest Warrant Issued for Man in 70s Over Yeoksam Serial Arson

An arrest warrant has been issued for a man in his 70s accused of setting fire to two buildings in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, injuring 19 people.

This comes two days after he was arrested for committing the arson two days ago (October 20).

Judge Budong-sik, a senior judge handling warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, issued the arrest warrant today after holding a pre-arrest interrogation starting at 3 p.m. for the suspect in his 70s, identified as A, who faces charges of arson resulting in injury to existing structures.

Judge Bu stated the reason for issuing the warrant, citing concerns that the suspect might flee.

A is accused of setting fire to the fourth floor of the Hanyang Building at around 11:51 a.m. and subsequently to the third floor of the Shinmyeong Building at around 12:01 p.m. two days ago, injuring a total of 19 people.

Among them, a patent attorney was transported to a hospital in cardiac arrest and is currently receiving treatment.

Both locations where the fires occurred were patent law offices, and police believe that A committed the crime out of a grudge, suspecting that the law firm had committed fraud during his patent registration process.

As he entered the court for his warrant hearing today, in response to a reporter's question asking if he intended to commit murder, A said, "What do you mean kill, I just wanted to scare them," adding, "I did it to let the world know about people who commit fraud. This country is protecting fraudsters."

He was previously sentenced to two years and six months in prison after being indicted on charges of attempting to set fire to the same two patent law offices four years ago.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.