Suspect confesses in landmark fire
South Korean police said today that a man upset over a land dispute admitted setting a fire in Seoul that destroyed the 14th century gateway considered South Korea’s top cultural treasure.
The suspect in the arson at the Namdaemun gate, identified only by his family name, Chae, was arrested late Monday on Ganghwa Island, west of Seoul.
The fire burned down the wooden structure at the top of the Namdaemun gate, which once formed part of a wall that encircled the South Korean capital.
On Sunday, the man, 69, poured a bottle of paint thinner on the floor of the wooden structure and set it on fire with a disposable lighter, police official Kim Young-soo said.
Kim said the man had been charged with damaging Seoul’s Changgyeong Palace in a 2006 arson case.
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