Firefighters inspect the scene of a fire at a commercial building in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Oct. 20.NEWS1
Police arrested a man suspected of having started the back-to-back fires that injured 19 people at two buildings in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Tuesday, about four hours after he fled the scene.
Officers arrested him near Dongmyo Station in Jongno District, central Seoul, at around 4:16 p.m.and transferred him to the Seoul Suseo Police Station.
The suspect allegedly began preparing for the crime three days in advance. When asked about his motive, he reportedly said, “Because the patent law firm committed fraud,” without specifying which firm.
The man is accused of setting fire to a patent law firm office on the third floor of the Sinmyeong building, a seven-story commercial and office space in Yeoksam-dong, at around 11:54 a.m., then to another patent law firm office on the fourth floor of the Hanyang building, about 200 meters (656 feet) away, at around 12:01 p.m.
Afterward, he allegedly fled via subway Line 1.
During the first fire, a patent attorney was found unresponsive in a third-floor hallway by fire authorities and was soon taken to a hospital. Her husband, who works at the same firm as she does, was also reportedly injured, along with nine others. About 60 people self-evacuated.
Eight were injured in the fire at the Hanyang building, with three having severe difficulty breathing. The other five suffered minor injuries.
A total of 291 personnel, including 115 firefighters, and 56 pieces of equipment were deployed to the scene, and both fires were fully extinguished at about 2:20 p.m., approximately two hours after they had broken out.
Firefighters inspect the scene of a fire at a commercial building in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Oct. 20.NEWS1
“The [unresponsive] patient began breathing on her own again while on her way to the hospital,” Kim Hyeon-seok, the head of fire administration at the Gangnam fire station, said at a briefing at the scene. “The rest of the seriously and lightly injured patients have all been taken to hospitals in the area for treatment.”
Shattering glass and heavy smoke caused chaos in the area.
“I heard people screaming for help, and when I came out, black smoke was billowing from a building, and I saw people calling for rescue or wailing through the broken windows,” said Shin Seon-yeong, who was in an office in a nearby building at the time of the fires. “I also saw firefighters performing CPR on a rescued person by the side of the road.”
Firefighters transport an injured person from the scene of a fire at a commercial building in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Oct. 20.NEWS1
“Around noon, there was a popping sound like an explosion, and the building’s windows started breaking, so I called the fire department,” an owner of a nearby restaurant said. “The smoke spread into the alley and was so thick that I couldn’t even open my eyes.”
Police tracked the suspect based on witness accounts that a person fled the scene carrying flammable substances such as paint thinners, as well as on tips from the public about the suspect’s appearance.
Update, Oct. 20, 2026: Added information on the suspect’s arrest and motive.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
