[Yonhap News Photo]
A 48-year-old man was formally arrested Saturday for launching an arson attack on the birthplace of South Korea's late leader and father of President Park Geun-hye.
Police said they used footages from security cameras and confession to bring charges of arson against the man who torched a memorial hall housing an altar and the portraits of Park's assassinated father and mother.
The birthplace of South Korea's late president Park Chung-hee has been preserved as a memorial place in Gumi 199 kilometers (123 miles) southeast of Seoul.
The man told investigators that he used inflammable liquid to press his demand for President Park's ouster for her role in a corruption scandal involving her longtime friend and presidential aides. He allegedly wrote a message in the guestbook that read "Park Geun-hye, you should take your life. Stop defiling the legacy of your father!"
President Park's father ruled the country for 18 years after seizing power in a military coup in 1961. The late president, who was assassinated in 1979 by his intelligence chief, was credited with pioneering South Korea's rapid industrialization. At the same time, he was criticized for the brutal suppression of democracy.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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