A man in his 50s was arrested and taken into custody after threatening to set fire to his own residence, reporting it himself, and then attempting arson while threatening responding police officers and firefighters.
The Miryang Police Station in South Gyeongsang Province announced on July 10 that it had detained Mr. A, a man in his 50s, on charges including attempted arson and obstruction of official duties with special circumstances.
According to police, Mr. A is accused of attempting to set fire to his residence in Cheongdo-myeon, Miryang, at around 8:00 p.m. on June 30.
He called 119 saying, "I will set fire and die," and then threatened the police officers and firefighters who responded by igniting a butane gas torch and spraying it in their direction.
He threw cardboard boxes and clothes on the floor of his residence and tried to set them on fire with the torch, but was stopped and immediately arrested.
At the time of his arrest, Mr. A was found to be intoxicated.
During the investigation, police confirmed that Mr. A had made over 300 calls to 112, the police emergency number, over the past year, expressing despair about his personal situation or dissatisfaction with society.
Of these, police added charges of obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means for 10 malicious false reports that prompted police and fire authorities to respond to the scene.
A police official stated, "112 is an emergency hotline for citizens who urgently need police assistance," and urged, "Please use 112 only when absolutely necessary so that no one is unable to receive help from the police due to false reports."
The official added, "To protect the public safely and prevent the waste of police resources and delays in emergency response caused by false 112 reports, we have been conducting a focused crackdown on habitual and malicious false reports to 112 since July 1, which will continue until August 30. In addition, the period for intensive crackdowns on violence in daily life has been extended until the end of October, and we are strictly responding to various crimes such as alcohol-related violence and crimes involving weapons."
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