Last month, an explosion occurred at the Yasukuni Shrine.
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The arrest warrant said that the suspect, Jeon Chang-han, was in the shrine between 11 a.m. on November 22 and 10 a.m. on November 23. It’s not known why he returned to Japan Wednesday.
Japanese police officers stand guard in front of the Kojimachi Police Station in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward, where a South Korean man was in custody for a suspected bombing at a public restroom at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, seen as a symbol of Japan’s militarist past by neighboring Asian countries.
Witness accounts and security footage apparently showed a man carrying a paper bag just moments before a blast was clearly heard coming from a restroom in the shrine.
Japan’s relations with China and South Korea have been damaged by visits of leaders including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the shrine, which honors 14 wartime leaders convicted as Class A war criminals, along with millions of war dead. Reports said Jeon flew back to Japan on Wednesday and was soon arrested. It is the result of an agreement reached with the South Korean government aimed at ending a dispute over the trade.
Fuji News Network reported that police confirmed that DNA tests on cigarette butts found in the restroom and his hotel matched.
The suspect had returned to South Korea following the incident that occurred at the shrine on a national holiday last month.
The Kyodo News agency reported that the man allegedly checked the site before placing what is believed to be an explosive device on the following day, citing the Metropolitan Police Department.
Japan’s NHK public broadcaster said the suspect was asked to voluntarily follow police at Haneda airport for questioning, and was formally arrested thereafter.
In 2013, another South Korean threw paint thinner towards an altar after breaking into the shrine.
Chon’s reentry to Japan had been tracked by the airport’s system to red-flag suspicious passengers entering the country, based on their personal information, police and airport officials said.
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The South Korean Foreign Ministry said it had been informed of Mr. Jeon’s arrest and a local consular official has been dispatched to assist him.
