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| Stains from four Molotov cocktails can be seen yesterday on the ground near the Japanese Embassy in Jongno District, central Seoul. [YONHAP] |
The 36-year old man identified by the surname Liu, a resident of Guangzhou in southern China, said his maternal grandmother was a Korean from Pyongyang who had been forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II.
He said he was “angered that Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda avoided the issue of comfort women last December.”
According to police, who arrested him at the scene of the attack, Liu also claims to have set fire to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Dec. 26. World War II war criminals are honored at the shrine, along with 2.5 million Japanese war dead.
The Yasukuni Shrine’s 13-meter-high wooden Shinmon gate was burned at 4:05 a.m. on Dec. 26, though the fire was put out quickly, leaving the bottom of the left gate slightly charred.
According to the Mainichi Daily News, Japanese police suspect arson because traces of a kerosene-like fuel were found on the gate, two sake bottles with a small amount of oil in them were discovered at the scene and a man torching the gate was captured on a security camera.
The Jongno police said Liu lit and threw four handmade Molotov cocktails at the Japanese Embassy building in Junghak-dong, Jongno District, central Seoul, at 8:18 am. yesterday and was caught at the location.
Liu claims he is a psychotherapist in China, according to the police. He says he left Guangzhou to volunteer to help cleanup efforts in post-tsunami Japan last October, and supposedly spent two months working in Fukushima Prefecture.
He left Tokyo and arrived at Incheon International Airport on Dec. 26 at 11:50 a.m., the day of the fire at the Yasukuni Shrine.
Police said Liu claimed to have stayed in Incheon for several days then moved to a motel in Seodaemun District, central Seoul, on Dec. 31.
Liu allegedly purchased gasoline in two two-liter bottles at a nearby gas station and then transferred the gasoline into 11 empty soju bottles.
He carried the 11 bottles in a bag to the Japanese Embassy and threw four of them at the building yesterday morning. Two landed on a second-floor balcony.
Seven people were in the embassy at the time. There were no injuries or damage to the building.
Liu was trying to escape when caught by police guarding the area and arrested. He was wearing a T-shirt with “apologize” in Chinese characters.
The police is looking into Liu’s family background and whether he might have had accomplices.
Former “comfort women” and their supporters celebrated their 1,000th weekly protest in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul last month to demand an apology from Japan’s government and compensation.
The 1,000th protest received a lot of publicity around the world. A bronze statue of a young girl was erected in front of the Embassy on Dec. 14 as a symbol of permanent protest.
At a summit in Kyoto on Dec. 18, President Lee Myung-bak requested an official Japanese apology and compensation for the so-called comfort women, Japanese Prime Minister Noda rejected the request and asked that the statue in front of the embassy be removed. Japanese newspapers gave wide coverage to the disagreement.
By Kim Min-sang, Sarah Kim [sarahkim@joongang.co.kr]
“외할머니가 위안부” 일본대사관에 화염병
30대 중국인 “일 총리 사죄하라”
최근 야스쿠니 신사 방화 주장
경찰 구속영장 청구 방침
8일 오전 8시쯤 서울 종로구 중학동 주한 일본대사관 앞. 검정 외투를 입은 중국인 류모(38)는 배낭을 인도 위 자전거 거치대 앞에 내려놓았다. 그의 흰색 티셔츠에는 붉은색 한자로 ‘사죄(赦罪)’가 적혀 있었다. 류는 배낭에 든 화염병 11개 중 4개를 꺼내 차례로 대사관을 향해 던지기 시작했다. 2개는 담장에, 2개는 대사관 건물에 맞았다. 경비 근무 중이던 경찰에 붙잡힌 류는 “외할머니가 일제 강점기 당시 위안부로 동원된 한국인이다. 일본 총리는 위안부 문제에 사죄해야 한다”고 주장했다.
서울 종로경찰서는 이날 일본대사관에 화염병을 던진 혐의(화염병 사용 등에 관한 법률 위반)로 류를 조사 중이라고 밝혔다. 류는 중국 광저우(廣州) 출신으로 심리치료전문 의사로 활동하는 것으로 전해졌다. 그는 지난해 10월 3일 일본 지진 피해자들을 돕기 위해 일본에 입국해 두 달간 봉사활동을 한 뒤 같은 해 12월 26일 관광비자로 국내로 들어온 것으로 조사됐다. 류는 “지난해 12월 초 노다 요시히코(野田佳彦) 일본 총리가 위안부 문제 논의를 거부한 데 화가 나 화염병을 던졌다”고 진술했다.
류는 경찰 조사에서 자신이 지난해 12월 말 일본 야스쿠니(靖國)신사에도 불을 질렀다고 주장했다. 지난해 12월 26일 오전 4시10분쯤 도쿄 지요다(千代田)구 야스쿠니 신사 문에 화재가 났다. 당일 오전 류는 한국행 비행기를 탔다. 그는 “1985년 충남 공주에서 사망한 외할머니의 유골이 대구에 있다”며 “외할머니의 행적을 따라가 보기 위해 한국을 방문했다”고 진술했다.
경찰은 류의 가족관계와 출입국 기록 등을 추가 조사한 뒤 구속영장을 청구할 방침이다. 경찰 관계자는 “한·중·일 외교 관계에도 미묘한 파장을 일으킬 수 있는 사안이어서 신중하게 처리할 것”이라고 말했다.
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