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U.S. editionAt around 11:54 a.m. on the 20th a fire broke out at a patent firm’s office on the 3rd floor of the Sinmyeong Building in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, and 7 minutes later another broke out at a patent firm’s office on the 4th floor of the Hanyang Building, about 200 m away (Korea Herald, Seoul Economic Daily). Yonhap reported that because both were patent firms, police investigated on suspicion of arson. The Korea Herald reported that 19 people were hurt, 5 of them seriously, and one patent attorney was found in cardiac arrest in a corridor. Police arrested a man in his 70s near Dongmyo Station at around 4:16 p.m. (Yonhap, SBS). The man claimed a patent firm had defrauded him over a patent he filed in 2000 and said he had prepared for three days (Seoul Economic Daily). Yonhap and Korea Economic Daily reported that he had been arrested 4 years ago for trying to set fire to the same building.
That the same person went after the same building again after 4 years raises the question of who managed the risk of reoffending after his release, and how. With two offices in office buildings burning almost at the same time, problems with evacuation routes and fire-safety equipment in high-rise offices have also come to light.
If you work in an office building, it is worth checking once where the emergency exits and escape stairs are on each floor. Because a grudge against a specific firm is being cited as the motive, the security procedures at complaint and dispute-handling desks are also worth another look.
Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that some people even clung to the outside wall to escape the flames and that it nearly became a mass-casualty disaster. This view holds that monitoring of someone already known to have targeted the same building, and the protection of victims, fell short.
The other view points out that the legal grounds for continuing to restrain someone who has served his sentence are limited. It holds that the motive, mental state and whether the crime was planned must be settled by the investigation and that hasty conclusions should be avoided.
What is confirmed is the fires at two buildings, 19 injured, the arrest of a man in his 70s and his claims. The condition of the patent attorney taken away in cardiac arrest, whether an arrest warrant is sought and how the case from 4 years ago was disposed of are the heart of today’s follow-up reporting.
Yonhap (serial arson at 2 patent firms in Yeoksam-dong buildings, 10/20) · Korea Economic Daily (attempt to set fire to the same building 4 years ago, 10/20) · SBS (suspect arrested, 10/20) · Kyunghyang Shinmun (clinging to the outside wall, 10/20)
Serial arson at 2 patent firms in Yeoksam-dong 7 minutes apart leaves 19 hurt… suspect in his 70s caught near Dongmyo Station
A man in his 70s who claimed a patent firm had defrauded him over a patent from 2000 is reported to have been arrested 4 years ago after targeting the same building.
A fire broke out at around 11:54 a.m. on the 20th at a patent firm’s office on the 3rd floor of the Sinmyeong Building in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, and about 7 minutes later, at around 12:01 p.m., flames also shot up at a patent firm’s office on the 4th floor of the Hanyang Building, about 200 m away, the Korea Herald and Seoul Economic Daily reported. Yonhap reported that because both sites were patent firm offices, police treated arson as a strong possibility from the start. According to the Korea Herald, the two fires left 19 people hurt, 5 of them seriously, and one patent attorney was found in cardiac arrest in a corridor and taken to hospital. Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that some employees even clung to the outside wall of the building to escape the flames. Fire authorities issued Response Level 1, Korea Economic Daily reported. The Sinmyeong Building, where the first fire broke out, and the Hanyang Building, where the second did, are a few minutes’ walk apart, and employees in the offices just before lunchtime fled in a rush down the stairs and out the windows, Kyunghyang Shinmun reported. Police began by checking whether the same person was behind both fires, Yonhap reported.
Police traced his movements by taxi, on foot and by subway and arrested a man in his 70s near Dongmyo Station in Jongno District, Seoul, at around 4:16 p.m., Yonhap and SBS reported. According to Yonhap, the man was taken to Suseo Police Station. Seoul Economic Daily reported that, asked about his motive by reporters, the man claimed a patent firm had defrauded him over a patent he filed in 2000 and said he had prepared the crime for three days. Yonhap and Korea Economic Daily reported that the man had been arrested 4 years ago for trying to set fire to the same building. Seoul Economic Daily reported that he served 2 years 6 months at the time for a case in which he threatened a patent firm with gasoline. The current condition of the patent attorney taken away in cardiac arrest has not been confirmed. Police are questioning the man about how the crime unfolded, why he chose the two buildings and where he obtained the flammable material, Yonhap reported. Whether an arrest warrant will be sought is not yet known.