Man tries to ram Blue House with burning vehicle

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Man tries to ram Blue House with burning vehicle

An one-time mental patient tried yesterday to ram the Blue House press building in a car he had set ablaze, but he ran into an adjoining flower bed instead.
Blue House security guards arrested the driver and handed him over to police. He was identified as a 38-year-old unemployed man surnamed Chun, who is thought to be living in Pocheon, Gyeonggi province.
Police said the man apparently used paint thinner to set his Avante compact sedan on fire. He jumped out of the burning vehicle and let it roll 30 meters toward the press center gates in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul.
But the car hit a large flower bed outside the compound and stopped.
Police said the driver was found to be inebriated but that he also had a history of mental illness.
They said he had been admitted to a sanitarium at least six times in the past.
Police said the man had a note with him. It read: “Isn’t it all the same if I die one way or another?”
They said the driver claimed his brother and another man were trying to kill him after he had recently served four years in jail, although they had yet to confirm this.
“I did this because I wanted to let the media know of my dire situation,” he said according to police.
The man was able to drive into the Blue House premises following President Roh Moo-hyun’s move to open it to drivers for free passage after he took office in February.


by Ko Ran
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