Why father killed his son and what police found after Incheon birthday shooting

Park Sang-jin, chief of Incheon Yeonsu Police Station, briefs the press on Monday about the homemade gun shooting that left a man dead at an apartment in Songdo, Incheon. Yonhap

What was meant to be a birthday celebration on Sunday in Incheon’s Songdo neighborhood ended in a shocking act of violence and the discovery of a cache of homemade explosive devices.

According to police, 62-year-old Cho fatally shot his 34-year-old son with a homemade shotgun during a family gathering attended by the son’s wife, their two young children, and several friends.

The father fired two rounds into his son’s chest and abdomen after stepping out briefly during the evening and returning with a gun he had crafted himself. After Cho fled the scene in a rental car, police apprehended him three hours later in Seoul’s Seocho District.

Inside the vehicle, officers discovered 10 more homemade firearms, 11 metal pipes likely intended as additional barrels, and 86 rounds of improvised buckshot — some already loaded, according to Yonhap News TV.

The investigation widened to Cho’s home in Dobong District, Seoul, where police uncovered 15 improvised explosive devices.

Constructed from plastic bottles filled with thinner and connected to timers and ignition devices, several were set to detonate at noon the next day. Authorities evacuated more than 100 residents and safely defused the explosives.

Incheon Yeonsu Police said on Monday that they are investigating a man in his 60s for allegedly killing his son with a homemade gun at an apartment in Songdo, Incheon. Pictured is one of the explosive devices found at the suspect’s home in Dobong District, Seoul. Yonhap

Decades-long resentment over divorce

When asked about his motive, Cho told investigators the killing stemmed from long-standing resentment between him and his son, rooted in a bitter divorce two decades earlier, Dong-A Ilbo reported.

Cho’s ex-wife, currently overseas on a business trip, is the CEO of a major aesthetic franchise with locations in Korea and abroad. According to police, Cho said his son had repeatedly blamed him for the breakup of the family, fueling years of tension.

“My son always said it was my fault that he and his mother divorced and constantly held me responsible,” Cho told the police.

Despite the fractured relationship, Cho had remained in contact with his son. Family photos posted on social media show them together at previous birthdays.

Police now believe the murder was premeditated, aimed specifically at his son, though the presence of additional weapons and explosives raises questions about whether others might have been at risk.

Cho has no known criminal record, military training, or psychiatric history. He once attempted to buy shotgun ammunition during a suicidal crisis years ago, he told police, but no official records exist of that attempt.

“His statements remain limited, and we’re working with criminal profilers to understand the full scope of his plan,” a police official said.

The victim’s wife and children, witnesses to the attack, are receiving psychological support, and an autopsy has been requested to determine his precise cause of death.

This article is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.