일본 야스쿠니(靖國) 신사 폭발음 사건 용의자인 한국인 전모(27) 씨(구속)가 재판에 회부됐다.
일본 도쿄지검은 28일 전씨를 건조물 침입 혐의로 구속기소했다고 교도통신이 보도했다.
일본 검찰은 일단 참배 등의 타당한 사유없이 야스쿠니 경내에 침입한 혐의를 적용했지만, 본안 격인 폭발음 사건에 대해서는 보강 조사를 벌여 추가기소할 가능성도 점쳐진다.
지난달 23일 오전 10시께 일본 도쿄도(東京都) 지요다(千代田)구 소재 야스쿠니신사에서는 한 차례 폭발음이 들렸고 출동한 경찰은 남문(南門) 인근 남성용 화장실에서 타이머, 건전지, 모래 형태의 물질이 속에 들어있는 파이프 묶음 등을 발견했다.
용의자로 지목된 전씨는 이달 9일 일본에 입국했다가 일본 경찰에 체포됐으며 일본 언론은 그가 사건 당일 화장실에 무엇인가 장치를 설치했다는 진술을 했다고 보도했다.
<관련 영문 기사>
Korean man indicted over alleged Yasukuni bombing
Japanese prosecutors indicted a South Korean man for the suspected bombing of a public restroom at a Tokyo war shrine last month, news reports said Monday.
The 27-year-old suspect, identified only by his surname Chon, is charged with breaking into the premises on Nov. 23 and was taken into custody, Kyodo News agency reported.
Chon was arrested earlier this month shortly after voluntarily returning to Tokyo by plane.
An explosion was heard inside the shrine on the morning of Nov. 23. Police found a digital timer and a bundle of pipes presumed to be carrying explosives in the restroom at the shrine, local media said.
DNA tests on cigarette butts found in the restroom and the suspect's hotel room matched, according to the Fuji News Network, a commercial television news network in Japan.
Chon made a statement that he installed some sort of a device in the restroom on the day of the incident, according to local media.
The indictment came as South Korea and Japan began crucial talks in Seoul on how to resolve the issue of former Korean sex slaves for Japan's World War II soldiers.
South Korea and China view the Yasukuni Shrine -- which honors over 2.4 million war dead, including 14 convicted Class-A war criminals -- as a symbol of Japan's past imperialism.
Many South Koreans still harbor deep resentment against Japan over its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. (Yonhap)
