[Anchor]

A man in his 70s has been arrested for setting fire to two buildings in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul, injuring 19 people. Police are also considering applying charges of attempted murder.

Reporter Im Jihyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

A man wearing a hat and a mask, with his hands bound, walks out of the police station.

The man in his 70s, identified by the surname A, who successively set fires at two buildings in Yeoksam-dong, is being transported to court for his pre-trial detention hearing.

[Suspect A: (Did you intend to kill?) I didn't mean to kill them, I just wanted to scare them. It's right here. The fraud going on. I wanted to let the world know...]

Suspect A, who was reportedly refusing to cooperate and exercising his right to silence during his second police interrogation the day before yesterday (October 21), appeared before reporters and reiterated his previous claim that two patent law firms had defrauded him.

A had previously been punished in 2022 after visiting the same two patent law firms, pouring gasoline, and pretending to ignite a lighter. Returning four years later, A did not stop at just pretending this time.

According to testimony from survivors obtained by SBS, A asked for a manager surnamed B affiliated with the patent law firm, told an employee guiding him to "go inside the office," poured flammable material in front of the approximately 1-square-meter entrance, and set it on fire.

One survivor stated, "There was a garden-style terrace outside the floor where the fire broke out, so we were able to break the glass and escape," adding, "He set fire to the only exit in an attempt to kill us."

After securing custody of A, police plan to review the application of attempted murder charges through additional investigations.

It was revealed that A, who was released from prison in June of last year, was outside police surveillance.

When serving prison sentences for crimes such as murder or arson, information is collected for two years after release, but because A was punished for special intimidation, he fell outside the police surveillance network.

The court issued an arrest warrant for A, citing concerns that he might flee.

(Video reporting: Yang Hyeon-cheol, Kim Han-gyeol | Video editing: Yoon Tae-ho | Design: Kim Han-gil, Han Heung-su, Byun Da-young)