Namdaemun Gate

Namdaemun gate is the South gate to the city of Seoul. It is dated as being 610 years old. When I first got here it was a smack dab in the middle of a traffic circle but a couple of years ago they added a small park to it's side to make it a real tourist destination. It is a major symbol of Korea's past and stands among some of the biggest buildings in the city. On Sunday night it was set on fire and the nation watched it burn live on television.

There is no shortage of blame as to how this happened. It had no guards protecting it at night. The company that has the contract to patrolling the place had their sensors fail when the arsonist climbed up to it's second level to torch it. The emergency services also have been blamed for their slow response.

This is what people woke up to on Monday morning. Two days later a 70 year old man confessed to the crime saying it was in protest to not being paid in full from a property developer. If it was him, it is the second time he has set fire to a historic building. What's more scary is that he had thought of attacking a subway but thankfully didn't because he didn't want to harm any people. If this guy is indeed the arsonist I can guarantee he won't be out of jail anytime soon. Koreans are rightfully pissed.