High Risk of Wildfires... Man in His 30s Arrested for Serial Arson Around Chiaksan Mountain

Set Five Fires with a Lighter in the Chiaksan Area

A man in his 30s was arrested for committing a series of arson incidents in the Chiaksan area of Wonju, Gangwon Province.

An arsonist setting fire near Chiaksan Mountain in Wonju, Gangwon Province. Photo by Wonju Police Station and Yonhap News.

According to the Wonju Police Station on the 10th, the Chuncheon District Court issued an arrest warrant the previous day for Mr. A, a man in his 30s, who is suspected of violating the Forest Protection Act and general property arson.

The court judged that there was a risk of evidence tampering and flight.

Mr. A is accused of setting fires with a lighter five times between the 26th of last month and the 6th of this month in the Chiaksan area of Socho-myeon, Wonju City, burning approximately 60 pyeong of trees and weeds.

The police investigated with the possibility of arson in mind, based on the fact that all fire locations were in remote areas of Chiaksan and there were no special factors that could have caused the fires.

Subsequently, through neighborhood inquiries and analysis of nearby closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, the police identified a prime suspect and on the 6th, while lying in wait near Chiaksan, they urgently arrested Mr. A around 3 p.m. as he set fire to a tree branch and threw it onto a field embankment.

Mr. A is reported to have denied the charges during police questioning.

No one was injured in the multiple fires caused by Mr. A.

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