Nonhyeon-dong massacre - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Nonhyeon-dong massacre was a mass murder

Mass murder

Mass murder is the act of murdering a large number of people , typically at the same time or over a relatively short period of time. According to the FBI, mass murder is defined as four or more murders occurring during a particular event with no cooling-off period between the murders...

that occurred in the Gangnam-gu

Gangnam-gu

Gangnam-gu is one of the 25 gu which make up the city of Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the most affluent areas of Seoul and is located in the southeast of the city...

ward of Seoul

Seoul

Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

, South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

on October 20, 2008, when 30-year-old Jeong Sang-jin (정상진) set fire

Arson

Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...

in a goshiwon

Dormitory

A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...

and slashed several women with a sashimi knife

Sashimi

Sashimi is a Japanese delicacy. It consists of very fresh raw meat, most commonly fish, sliced into thin pieces.-Origin:The word sashimi means "pierced body", i.e...

. A total of six people died in the incident and seven more were injured.

Jeong was sentenced to death on May 12. 2009.

Details

At about 8:15 a.m., according to police, Jeong, who lived on the third floor of a four-story gosiwon, a low-cost lodging facility, poured gasoline on his bed and set it ablaze. Dressed all in black, wearing a headlamp

Flashlight

A flashlight is a hand-held electric-powered light source. Usually the light source is a small incandescent lightbulb or light-emitting diode...

and hiding his face with a balaclava and goggles

Goggles

Goggles or safety glasses are forms of protective eyewear that usually enclose or protect the area surrounding the eye in order to prevent particulates, water or chemicals from striking the eyes. They are used in chemistry laboratories and in woodworking. They are often used in snow sports as well,...

he emerged from his smoke filled room and, armed with a sashimi knife as well as two fruit-knives strapped to his legs and a tear gas gun

Lachrymatory agent

Tear gas, formally known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator , is a non-lethal chemical weapon that stimulates the corneal nerves in the eyes to cause tears, pain, and even blindness...

in a belt holster, began slashing and stabbing the residents of the building who were fleeing the fire.

Five people died of the wounds Jeong had inflicted on them with his knife, one woman died when she jumped out of a window in the fourth floor in an attempt to escape and another seven were injured, four seriously, either by Jeong or the fire. Three of the dead and three of the injured were Chinese citizens.

The fire ravaged in the building for about 30 minutes, before the around 100 firefighter

Firefighter

Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...

s finally succeeded to tame the flames.

At 9:20 a.m. Jeong, initially thought to be another victim, was rescued by a fireman from a storage room in the fourth floor, where he was hiding. When police noticed his peculiar behavior Jeong was interrogated at the scene and he confessed to the crime. He was immediately arrested and brought to Gangnam Police Station, where he was charged with homicide

Homicide

Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...

and arson

Arson

Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...

Perpetrator

Jeong Sang-jin, originally from Hapcheon

Hapcheon

Hapcheon County is a county in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Famous people born in the county include former South Korean president Chun Doo-hwan.-Location:...

, North Gyeongsang Province

Gyeongsang

Gyeongsang was one of the eight provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. Gyeongsang was located in the southeast of Korea....

, moved to Seoul

Seoul

in 2002, where he scratched a living with part time jobs as food delivery man or parking valet

Valet parking

Valet parking is a parking service offered by some restaurants, stores, and other businesses, particularly in North America. In contrast to "self-parking", where customers find a parking space on their own, customers' vehicles are parked for them by a person called a valet...

, though as of April 2008 he was unemployed and had to face severe financial difficulties.

According to unconfirmed reports he was convicted eight times, once for skipping an obligatory training for military reservists, for which he was fined of 1.5 million won.

During interrogations he said he was persecuted since his childhood days and attempted suicide twice during his time at middle school and occasionally suffered from severe headaches since then.

Motives

Jeong was in severe financial distress and couldn't pay his rent and mobile phone fees for months prior to the rampage. After his arrest he stated that he didn't want to live anymore, as everyone looked down on him. It was said that he might have wanted to express his anger towards the rich and high authorities, but as they were difficult targets he lashed out against those who were at hand.

Further blame was also laid on the film A Bittersweet Life
A Bittersweet Life
A Bittersweet Life is a 2005 South Korean film directed and written by Kim Ji-woon and starring Lee Byung-hun...

by Kim Ji-woon

Kim Ji-Woon

Kim Ji-woon is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. Kim Ji-woon has a history of successfully tackling a wide range of film genres, garnering a cult following among Asian films fans all over the world.-Career:...

, which Jeong was said to like.

Similar incidents

The incident sparked memories of the Daegu subway fire

Daegu subway fire

The Daegu subway fire was a mass murder suicide attack on February 18, 2003 which killed at least 198 Koreans and injured at least 147. An arsonist set fire to a train stopped at the Jungangno Station of the Daegu Metropolitan Subway in Daegu, South Korea...

and the arson

2008 Namdaemun fire

The 2008 Namdaemun fire was a fire set by Korean citizen and arsonist Chae Jong-gi that occurred on the Namdaemun, one of the most historically significant gates in Seoul, South Korea, and the first of Korea's National Treasures, on the date of February 10, 2008. The fire caused severe damage to...

of the Namdaemun the same year, as well as the Akihabara massacre

Akihabara massacre

The was an incident of mass murder that took place on Sunday, June 8, 2008, in the Akihabara shopping quarter for electronics, video games and comics in Sotokanda, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.At 12:33 p.m...

that happened just a few months earlier.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.