“Yeoksam arson suspect went to a dance hall but didn’t dance, just stared...” Strange behavior—was he hoping to be deemed to have diminished mental capacity?

[Financial News] The movements of a man in his 70s, identified as A, immediately after he set fire to two buildings in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, injuring 19 people, have come to light.

On the 26th, attorney Son Su-ho appeared on CBS FM’s “Park Sung-tae’s News Show” and analyzed the recent series of arson attacks in Yeoksam-dong.
That day, attorney Son began by saying, “The suspect’s behavior after the crime is quite strange,” then continued, “After setting the fire, before he was caught, he went to a restaurant. He had sundae soup and soju, then went to a nearby dance hall.” He added, “He didn’t dance there, but spent an hour staring intently at other people.”
Son questioned the suspect’s behavior after the crime, saying, “One could see this as an attempt to feign mental illness after the crime in order to be recognized as having diminished mental capacity, but even if that was the goal, it almost never succeeds.”

According to CCTV footage released by SBS on the 25th, A spoke with a female employee of a patent law firm for about 20 seconds just before the crime, then poured gasoline at the entrance and set it on fire. The attack took just over a minute. He reportedly fled via an emergency stairwell.
A representative of the patent law firm said, “They say that (before A set the fire, the female employee) closed the door, went inside, looked A right in the eye as he grinned,” adding, “Wasn’t he a devil?”
Son also pointed out that A’s crime stemmed from a conflict that had persisted for a long time.
He said, “This wasn’t a conflict that suddenly arose, nor was it sudden anger,” and mentioned that A had also gone to two offices of the same patent law firm in 2022, poured gasoline there, and threatened employees.
At the time, A sprayed gasoline in the face of a staff member assisting clients and appeared to try to ignite it with a lighter. He also went to another patent law firm, poured gasoline, and threatened people with scissors.
A did not actually set the gasoline alight, so he was sentenced to two years and six months in prison for aggravated intimidation.
According to attorney Son, under National Police Agency regulations, people released after serving prison terms for crimes such as murder or arson are subject to information gathering for two years.
However, because A was punished for aggravated intimidation rather than arson, he was reportedly not included among arson offenders subject to post-release monitoring.
Son pointed out, “In practice, he looks just like an arsonist, but in fact he was outside this system.”
He also explained that arson is not among the offenses eligible for electronic ankle monitoring, and that the system for managing high-risk arson offenders needs to be strengthened.

A is suspected of setting fires at the third floor of Sinmyeong Building at around 11:54 a.m. on the 20th and the fourth floor of Hanyang Building at around 12:01 p.m., injuring 19 people. One of them, a patent attorney, was taken to hospital in cardiac arrest and is receiving treatment.
A was apprehended by police near Dongmyo Station in Seoul that afternoon and was taken into custody on the 22nd on charges of arson causing injury at an occupied building.
Police are also considering whether to add a charge of attempted murder, based on statements that A had been looking for a specific person shortly before the crime.
[email protected] An Ga-eul Reporter