The massive stone and wood structure Namdaemun, or "Great South Gate," was reduced to a charred hulk on Monday, and there has been a steady outpouring of anger and sense of outrage at the destruction of an iconic symbol of national pride.
SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean pensioner on Friday re-enacted entering a 600-year-old gate designated the country's top treasure and setting it on fire, saying he was sorry that the gate was gone, but adding that no one was hurt by his actions.
The massive stone and wood structure Namdaemun, or "Great South Gate," was reduced to a charred hulk on Monday, and there has been a steady outpouring of anger and sense of outrage at the destruction of an iconic symbol of national pride.
"I don't think this is a feeling that will go away soon," said laborer Kim Jae-dong. Jang Kyeong-joon, a private business owner, said: "Who knows how many years longer that gate might have stood there for the future generation. He basically burnt down the face of the country."
The 69-year-old suspected arsonist Chae Jong-gi said he was sorry that he had destroyed something that was dear to so many people, but defiantly added: "Nobody got hurt. You can always restore a cultural heritage."
!ADVERTISEMENT!Chae, with a scarf draped over his hands in cuffs and wearing a surgical mask and a baseball hat over his grey hair, was led to Namdaemun by police to re-enact the climb up the side of the gate and setting the blaze with paint thinner.
South Korean police often take suspects, with TV cameras, back to crime scenes in high-profile cases for re-enactments, which are part of the criminal investigation and are often seen as an act of contrition by the apprehended person.
Chae said he acted on impulse but maintained that he did it out of revenge against the government which he said treated him unfairly. Police have said Chae was angry over compensation for a development project that claimed his property.
Chae was convicted in 2006 for starting a fire to that caused minor damage to a palace but the court had suspended his sentence.
The gate, built in 1398, was the oldest wooden structure in Seoul. It had withstood invasions, colonial occupation and was one of the few historic structures in the capital to remain standing after the 1950-53 Korean War.
There have been several renovations to the structure, also called Sungnyemun, or "Gate of Exalted Ceremonies," the last one taking place in the early 1960s.
(Reporting by Lee Jiyeon and Jack Kim; Editing by Keiron Henderson and Sanjeev Miglani
