SEOUL (AFP) — The South Korean who killed six people in an arson attack and knife frenzy at a Seoul lodging house was a debt-mired loner who dressed in black paramilitary garb for his assault, police and witnesses said Tuesday.
They said the suspect, identified only as Jeong, would face murder and arson charges after Monday's rampage, in which three Chinese workers and three South Koreans died.
"I have been mistreated by people since childhood," Jeong was quoted as saying by Kim Kap-Shik, senior investigator at Gangnam police station.
"Many people around me looked down on me. Because of the mental pain inflicted on me, I decided to kill other people," the suspect reportedly told police.
A survivor of the terror in the southern district of Nonhyeon painted a chilling picture of the suspect, who hoarded soft toys in his room but dressed in black clothes and goggles for his attack.
He started a blaze in the building and stabbed fellow residents as they fled.
"A man all dressed in black appeared from the smoke and pounced upon residents. It reminded me of a professional terrorist or a movie character. I felt frozen and unable to move for a while," said one of the lodging house managers on condition of anonymity.
"I retreated into my room and locked myself in. I heard horrible screams here and there but I could not help them. I feel guilty before the dead."
The manager told reporters Jeong wore a black balaclava and black clothes, goggles to combat smoke, a torch fixed to his head, a stun gun in a belt holster and a knife tied to each leg.
Police, alerted by his strange attire, arrested Jeong when he was helped by firefighters from the blazing five-storey building.
Five victims died from knife wounds and after jumping from the fume-filled building. Four people were seriously injured, including a Chinese woman who suffered deep knife wounds.
Beijing's embassy has organized an emergency team to care for victims, the China News Service reported.
"He says he randomly stabbed people but does not remember details... He seems to have no regret or remorse," a police detective was quoted as telling Yonhap news agency earlier.
Jeong, who worked sporadically as a food delivery man, was behind with his rent and had failed to pay a fine of 1.5 million won (1,150 dollars) for skipping obligatory military training.
The lodging house manager said he once inspected Jeong's room while the occupant was away. He found innumerable stuffed toys and other items and garbage piled high in one corner.
Jeong told police he did not drink alcohol or use drugs before the crime. He had attempted suicide twice while in middle school.
Pyo Chang-won, a criminal psychology professor at Korea National Police University, said the suspect would have wanted to express his anger towards high authorities or the rich.
"But as they are not easy targets to get his hands on. He might have taken it out on a number of unknown people to whom he had access," Pyo said.
There have been similar cases of random violence in recent years. In April a jobless man stabbed a schoolgirl to death while she was jogging with a friend.
In February this year an elderly man set fire to the historic Namdaemun Gate out of anger over an unrelated compensation dispute. No one was injured but he was jailed for 10 years.
In the worst case a mentally ill man in 2003 set fire to a subway carriage in the southern city of Busan, killing 198 people.
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