"If We Suspect Gun Manufacturing, We Will Refuse Entirely"
Many Requests for Parts... "We Don't Know How They'll Be Used"
Perpetrator Testified to Making Parts at Euljiro Workshop
On the 25th, technicians continued their work in the Cheonggyecheon tool street area in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Gong Byungseon
On July 25, Cheonggyecheon Tool Street in Jung-gu, Seoul, was filled with the sound of metal being cut, despite the hot weather and ongoing work. People were busy cutting steel rods or welding in their workshops. Finished items were immediately loaded onto trucks and sent somewhere. After completing their hard work, the technicians relaxed with instant coffee and watched YouTube on their smartphones. Occasionally, they encountered young people on the street, but most of the workers appeared to be elderly.
"Can we make guns?" Technician Lee (male, 70) paused his work connecting steel pipes. He said that here, they could even make tanks, so making guns would be obvious. According to him, there is no one on Tool Street who does not know how to make firearms explosive or more accurate. However, he repeatedly emphasized, "We absolutely do not make guns here."
A police line has been set up at the residence of the suspect who fired a homemade firearm in Incheon on the 21st, resulting in the death of family members. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that the police special forces discovered and removed homemade explosives such as thinner and timers at the suspect's residence in Ssangmun-dong, Dobong-gu, Seoul. Yonhap News Agency
The technicians on Tool Street were aware of the recent homemade firearm murder case. On July 21, the Incheon Yeonsu Police announced that they were investigating a man in his 60s, identified as Mr. A, for allegedly killing his son with a homemade firearm at an apartment in Songdo-dong, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon. The homemade firearm made by Mr. A operated by loading steel ball-shaped bullets into a barrel made from a steel pipe. He testified to the police that he learned how to make homemade firearms through YouTube and manufactured the necessary parts, such as steel pipes, at a workshop in Euljiro.
In fact, it is easy to find instructions for making homemade firearms on YouTube. One YouTuber cut a plastic pipe to use as a barrel and attached wood to make a handle. Because weak materials were used, the gun was only powerful enough to knock over a plastic bottle, but the difficulty level was low enough for others to imitate. In other videos, homemade firearms made loud noises and knocked down targets.
The technicians unanimously said that making the homemade firearm used in the recent murder was not difficult. They even evaluated it as crude. Kim (male, 67), a precision engineer, said, "For technicians like us, it would take less than a day to make such a gun," and explained, "Mr. A probably put a spring in the firing pin to strike the primer. The materials are easy to obtain, and the principle is simple." Lee also said, "Anyone with experience in precision engineering can quickly machine a steel pipe to serve as a barrel."
On the 25th, Kim (67, male) was manufacturing parts to enter a campervan in the Cheonggyecheon tool street area in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Gong Byungseon
The technicians were worried that, after the Incheon firearm murder case, people might come to Tool Street to make homemade firearms. If someone requests the production of only a part, rather than an entire firearm, even a master craftsman cannot determine its intended use. Yoon Hyesung (male, 57), who has worked with metal on Tool Street for 30 years, said that in the past, people had come to Tool Street to make guns. Yoon said, "People who want to make firearms never ask a single workshop to make the whole gun. They go to different places for each part. Someone once asked me to make only the barrel, but I refused."
The technicians explained that they have seen their skills, honed to improve daily life, misused for crime on several occasions. Lee spoke while looking at a now-closed hardware store across the street. "Someone once came to that shop with a blueprint and asked for a bent steel rod. I made it without thinking, but it turned out that the rod was used to break into a house and steal money and goods. It's the same with guns. If you make something as requested, who can know if it will be used in a firearm?"
They also said that if a request seems related to firearms, they would refuse it altogether to avoid trouble. Kim said, "The technicians here do not make gun parts if they know they will be used for crime. But if an incident does occur, we cannot help but feel some guilt," adding, "We are not people who live hand to mouth; having peace of mind is most important."
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