"Serial Arson, Attempted Murder Suspect"... Identity Disclosure Under Review

[Anchor]

We previously reported the initial arson footage of a man in his 70s who injured 19 people in a series of arson attacks at a building in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul. Police have begun actively reviewing the application of attempted murder charges against the man and whether to disclose his identity.

Reporter Im Jihyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

A man enters an office carrying yellow liquid-filled containers in both hands, sets a fire, and flees.

The suspect in the Yeoksam-dong serial arson attacks, surnamed Lee, was previously punished in 2022 for pouring gasoline on employees and pretending to light a lighter at the same two patent law firms involved in this incident.

At the time, however, Lee was charged only with special intimidation, not with preparation for arson.

Lee stated back then that he committed the crime not to set a fire, but to scare them, and prosecutors were unable to find evidence to overturn Lee's claim.

Having served two and a half years in prison, Lee set fire to the same patent law firms after his release, but is repeating the statement that his intention this time was also merely to scare them.

[Suspect Lee : (Did you intend to kill?) I wasn't trying to kill them, I just wanted to scare them.]

Survivors argued that Lee set fire to the only available exit and that attempted murder charges should be applied to him.

[Official from the targeted patent law firm : (Claiming he just wanted to scare them) is a very calculated remark prepared to lower his sentence. (Later on) we don't know what kind of even greater crime he might commit.]

Some in the legal community respond that applying attempted murder charges is possible given the nature of the crime.

[Lee Seung-woo / Lawyer : If parts of such statements come out (during the investigation) like 'even if they die, it can't be helped,' it seems likely to move toward acknowledging attempted (murder) charges.]

Police, who have secured and are analyzing CCTV footage from the time, are actively reviewing whether to additionally charge Lee with attempted murder before sending the case to prosecutors.

The police also plan to consider whether to disclose his identity, taking into consideration the severity of the crime.

(Video by Bae Moon-san | Video Editing by Park Na-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.