Man sentenced to 12-year prison term for arson on Seoul subway
This photo shows a fire inside a moving train on Seoul's Subway Line 5, May 31. Courtesy of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office
A Seoul court on Tuesday sentenced a man to 12 years in prison for attempted murder in setting fire to a subway train in May.
The 67-year-old man, surnamed Won, was charged with attempting to murder 160 passengers, including himself, and injuring six of them by pouring gasoline on the floor of a moving train and setting it on fire in the Yeouinaru Station-Mapo Station section of Seoul's Subway Line 5 on May 31.
The Seoul Southern District Court sentenced Won to the prison term as well as three years of probation. Prosecutors had demanded a 20-year prison term.
The fire caused chaos in the train as passengers scrambled to escape, leading to 23 being transferred to hospitals due to smoke inhalation and 129 people receiving on-site treatment.
Won reportedly committed the crime in order to take his own life after feeling unhappy about the result of his divorce suit and chose the subway as his target to draw more attention to himself.