A woman in her 30s has been arrested by police on suspicion of starting fires at remote locations near the mountain Chiaksan in Gangwon Province, as the nation recovers from wildfires that ravaged the southeastern region.
The nearby Wonju Police Station said Thursday that the Chuncheon District Court had issued a warrant for the suspect's official arrest on charges of violating the Forest Resources Creation and Management Act and in violation of Article 167 of the Criminal Act, for setting fire to general goods. The court noted that the suspect presented a risk of fleeing and destroying related evidence.
When a series of fires from late March destroyed around 60 square meters of land and plant life near Chiaksan, officials suspected arson and conducted an undercover investigation of the area. They tracked the suspect based on surveillance footage and the testimonies of local residents. Police say they caught the suspect red-handed at around 3 p.m. on Sunday setting a tree branch on fire and throwing it into a field near the mountain.
The woman is currently suspected as linked to five fires occurring between March 26 and April 6. In what is suspected to be her first arson in the area, a fire ignited near a Buddhist temple that she had prayed at 10 minutes after she left the temple.
The suspect, however, reportedly has only admitted to the fire she was seen starting, saying it was "merely out of curiosity."
The fire scare in Gangwon Province took place just as Korean authorities were extinguishing wildfires across the country's southeastern regions, mostly in northern areas of North Gyeongsang Province. The devastating flames were the most widespread in the country's recorded history, burning over 48,000 hectares — nearly two-thirds the size of Busan — while killing 31 and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
