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Exchange student given 18 months in prison for serial arson in Ulsan

Published: 06 May. 2025, 16:51

An image of a statue of Justitia, the goddess of justice [KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]

An exchange student was sentenced to 18 months in prison for serial arson at a university campus in Ulsan, after which the student tried to flee to China.

The Ulsan District Court delivered the ruling on Tuesday, convicting the student in their 20s of arson in February.

The student, who had come to study at a university in Ulsan, set fire to multiple locations on campus in February.

The individual first took a blanket and notebooks from a dormitory room and placed them inside a cylindrical ashtray at a smoking booth before setting them ablaze.

Although faculty members and students extinguished the fire, the student returned to the dormitory, collected additional items, including trash and notebooks, and set fires at four locations for about two hours.

These included a road within the university and a nearby wooded area.

The student attempted to flee to China the following day, but police arrested him at the airport just before departure.

The student denied most of the charges during police questioning and trial proceedings.

“The defendant’s actions resulted in the destruction of 50 square meters [538 square feet] of forest and could have escalated into a larger fire,” the court said. “The defendant also continued to deny parts of the offense with a brazen attitude.”

The court added that it had considered the absence of injuries and the student’s mental health when determining the sentence.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]