The Korea Herald

소아쌤

Korean man gets 4-year jail term for Yasukuni bombing

By KH디지털2

Published : July 19, 2016 - 13:16

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A Tokyo court handed down a four-year jail term to a Korean man Tuesday for detonating a bomb in a public restroom at a controversial Tokyo war shrine last year, according to media reports.

The Tokyo District Court found the 28-year-old suspect, identified only by his surname Chon, guilty of breaking into the premises of the Yasukuni Shrine on Nov. 23 and setting up the bomb in the public restroom, Kyodo News said.

Photo shows a South Korean man, identified only by his surname Chon, who has been indicted over the suspected bombing last year of a public restroom at a Tokyo war shrine. (Yonhap) Photo shows a South Korean man, identified only by his surname Chon, who has been indicted over the suspected bombing last year of a public restroom at a Tokyo war shrine. (Yonhap)

He was arrested in December shortly after voluntarily returning to Tokyo by plane.

Chon's legal representative has been demanding a suspended sentence, while admitting to the wrongdoings.

Prosecutors had originally sought a five-year sentence.

The defendant's 55-year-old mother said they will appeal the ruling.

Korea and China view the Yasukuni Shrine -- which honors over 2.4 million war dead, including 14 convicted Class-A war criminals -- as a symbol of Japan's past imperialism.

Many Koreans still harbor deep resentment against Japan over its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. (Yonhap)