Three Elementary Students Who Started Gaya Mountain Wildfire... "Tried to Follow a Cooking Video on YouTube"

At around 12:42 PM on February 10th, a forest fire broke out at Gayasan in Madong, Gwangyang-si, Jeollanam-do, sending smoke billowing into the sky. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] It was recently revealed that elementary school students in Gwangyang-si, Jeollanam-do, accidentally caused a large forest fire while trying to replicate a dish they saw on YouTube. However, since all of these children are under 10 years old and do not fall under the category of juvenile offenders (children aged 10 to under 14 who commit illegal acts), legal punishment is reportedly difficult.

According to Gwangyang City and Gwangyang Police Station on the 2nd, a fire broke out on Gayasan Mountain around 12:42 PM on February 10. At that time, 10 helicopters and about 250 personnel were mobilized to extinguish the fire, but due to a dry weather advisory and strong winds blowing at 5 meters per second, firefighting efforts faced difficulties.

The forestry authorities managed to extinguish the main fire after 11 hours. However, the fire reignited the next day, ultimately destroying 3 hectares of forest. Fortunately, no casualties occurred during this process.

The police, who launched an investigation, identified three elementary school students playing at a nearby playground as suspects through on-site inspection.

It was reported that they heated tangerines wrapped in foil to make a snack called "tanghulu." The police determined that the fire started during this process.

Meanwhile, according to the Korea Forest Service, accidentally caused forest fires can be punished by up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won. However, in this case, since all the children who caused the fire are under 10 years old, legal punishment is reportedly impossible.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.