A 22-year-old man who called in threats to bomb the presidential house Cheong Wa Dae last weekend said Wednesday he did it because he wanted to talk to “a government official with power.”
The Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency investigating the case, however, said the man did not explain why he wanted to speak to an official.
The suspect, identified only by his surname Kang, is the son of a former aide to the nation’s parliamentary leader. Health records show that he was treated for depression for about one and a half years since April 2013, police said.
Police also said while Kang was more or less able to articulate himself in a calm manner, much of what he said didn’t make sense.
“It was immediately clear that he was not in a normal state of mind,” a police official said, asking not to be named.
Kang is suspected of leaving five messages at the presidential office on Sunday saying he would bomb it unless they showed “willingness.” He did not explain what he meant by the word, authorities said.
Authorities also believe he is the one who posted on a Twitter page threats to blow up the homes of President Park Geun-hye and her top aide on Jan. 17.
No explosive devices were found in any of the locations he mentioned, police said, adding he had no accomplices or the actual will to carry out a terrorist attack. Authorities are convinced the incidents were isolated.
Police said Kang was exempted from South Korea’s mandatory military service in August 2013 after being diagnosed with depression. He had been stationed at a military unit in Uijeongbu, north of Seoul, for nine months.
While volunteering at a district office in Busan as an alternative, Kang came under police investigation for allegedly setting papers on fire in front of a residential building in March 2014, police said.
Kang continued to be treated for depression until last November, one month before he disappeared on his parents. He had apparently left for France with just 5 million won (US$4,615) in his wallet and a cell phone. He later explained he chose France because he’d wanted to go there since middle school.
Kang said when he ran out of money to afford hotel costs, he stayed with a Korean family. Police believe he did not meet anyone suspicious during his stay there.
Kang was repatriated a day earlier by his father, who had submitted a letter of resignation from his current post even before Kang had left threatening messages at Cheong Wa Dae.
Police said they will discuss Kang’s case with the prosecutors before deciding on the next steps. (Yonhap)
