Mobile homes lie destroyed in The Villages area near Lady Lake, Florida, after an early morning tornado tore through the development 02 February, 2007. Deadly thunderstorms thought to be carrying a tornado ripped through central Florida, killing 19 people, leveling scores of homes and leaving thousands stranded without power, officials said. AFP PHOTO



Could not suppress incendiary impulse…Teen apprehended for
habitual arson

Police apprehended a teenager who went around the San-Bok road area habitually setting forest fires because he couldn’t suppress his incendiary impulses.

The Busan Eastern District Police Department arrested Kim (19) on January 2 for arson. He is being charged with purposely setting approximately ten forest fires on the mountains around the Cho-Ryang-Dong and Soo-Jung-Dong areas.

Kim is being charged with ten counts of arson that occurred from last October until his arrest. Charges include a forest fire which occurred on the 31st of last month at around 6:20p.m. near Keum-Soo Temple in Dong-Goo, Cho-Ryang-Dong vicinity. The fire burned an estimated 70 trees.

According to police investigations, Kim had a history of setting an orphanage on fire when he was only in the third grade. Police reports revealed that Kim has been an impulsive arson since childhood.

During the police investigation Kim confessed, “I don’t exactly know why… but after I set a fire and watch it burn, it calms me down.” Police have also discovered that Kim did not run away after starting the forest fires, but instead watched them spreading from a distance where no one was able to see him.

Police have concluded that Kim began the “Don’t ask why - arson rampage” because of his bitterness towards society when he couldn’t find a job or enroll in a college after graduating from high school last February. Police are investigating whether he had committed other arsons in the past.

Kim, Jong Yeoul / Reporter bell10@
/ 입력시간: 2007. 02.03. 09:37