20150902 Korea Gas blast raises concern over copycat terrorism
Korea Sep 02 2015 “Other”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Gas blast raises concern over copycat terrorism
Updated: 2015-09-02 22:29
By Chung Ah-young
A teenager surnamed Lee allegedly caused two butane gas canisters to explode outside a classroom of a middle school he used to attend. No one was injured in the explosion, which happened as students left the classroom for a gym class in the schoolyard.
Lee filmed the explosion and posted the footage on Youtube.
In a recent Virginia shooting, the gunman filmed himself killing two journalists and posted the footage on his social network.
“I wanted to leave a record like Cho Seung-hui,” Lee was quoted as telling a Korean language newspaper.
Cho, a Korean-American, killed 32 people and wounded 17 in a shooting rampage at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in the U.S. in 2007, before committing suicide.
Experts said the act was a form of copycat terrorism and showed that Lee was psychologically unbalanced and attention seeking.
“Some teenagers want to attract attention from the public and let people know about their acts,” said Kwak Dae-kyung, a professor at the Police and Administration Department of Dongkuk University.
Kwak said that with the wide use of the Internet and smartphones, some people want to show off their acts and have a sense of superiority by uploading differentiated photos or videos.
“He might have wanted revenge on people if he was an outcast and suffered humiliation at school,” he added.
Prof. Lee Soo-jung of Kyonggi Province said, “In today’s society, the more grotesque footage is, the more attention the Internet user gets. Such an atmosphere may have propelled him to act as he did.”
The boy allegedly set fire to a stack of papers between the two canisters at the school in Yangcheon-gu, southwestern Seoul, which he attended until January last year. He was transferred to another school in Seocho-gu in February.
The explosion destroyed the classroom wall beside the corridor, a door and windows.
Lee posted two videos of the explosion on Youtube three hours after the incident. The first shows him setting fire to the papers and one of the canisters exploding. In the second, he shows the confusion of teachers and students after the explosion, commenting, “Students are screaming. The school is in panic. I should have brought one more gas canister!”
While being chased by police, he posted comments on his videos and even had an interview with a local newspaper via mobile messenger app.
Police apprehended Lee at a park in Songpa.
According to officers, he had problems adjusting to his new school after the transfer. He attempted to set a fire at the new school with a lighter and gas about two months ago but failed. Lee apparently had counseling with teachers over his delusions about terrorism.
He planned to set off an explosion at the new school. But as the school toughened surveillance camera supervision following his first arson attempt, he chose his old school.
Web Source: Korea Times
http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2015/09/113_186092.html