Police said Thursday that they have arrested an unemployed South Korean man for allegedly leaving a box suspected to contain explosive devices at the nation’s main airport.
The 36-year-old man told police that he had left the box containing a butane gas canister and a warning message in Arabic in a men’s restroom at Incheon International Airport out of anger towards society.
“I was irritated because I could not find a job and I was in need of money,” the man allegedly said, admitting to his crime. “I had no intention to bomb the airport.”
According to police, the man holds a master’s degree in music, but has remained unemployed. He has been married for a few years and has a child. He had no previous criminal record or signs of mental illness, police said.
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| A suspect who allegedly left a box containing a butane gas canister and a threatening note inside a restroom at Incheon International Airport last week is seen in this CCTV footage released Thursday. (Yonhap) |
Police had apprehended him at his residence in Guro, southwestern Seoul, on Wednesday night on charges of speical threat and plotting to install explosive devices. This took place five days after the suspicious box raised terror alerts in the nation.
The box contained a butane gas canister, a bottle of water, guitar strings and electronic cords, as well as banana peels and other vegetables, without any explosives or detonators. It also had a printed memo in Arabic on half a sheet of paper, reading: “This is the last warning to you. God will punish.”
The suspect said that he used Google’s translation service tool to write the threatening note. Experts have said that the memo had grammatical errors and was different from typical threatening messages used by terrorist organizations.
The arrest came after police analyzed 84 closed-circuit television cameras installed on the first floor of the airport and suspected the man of entering the restroom with a shopping bag.
Police plan to investigate his possible links to international terrorist organizations and details of the incident. They requested a warrant to take him into custody on Thursday.
By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)
