Four Chinese Suspects Left Korea After Bundang Restaurant Vandalism, Police Say
Police have identified four Chinese men suspected of breaking into a Chinese restaurant in Bundang, damaging the premises and contaminating food ingredients before leaving South Korea on the day of the incident.
Police in Gyeonggi Province have identified four Chinese nationals suspected of carrying out a planned overnight attack on a Chinese restaurant in Bundang and leaving South Korea hours later, according to investigators.
The Bundang Police Station said Sunday that the four men, aged from their 20s to their 40s, are suspected of jointly damaging property at the restaurant in Seongnam. Investigators said the group entered the closed business at about 2:40 a.m. on Sept. 24, the first day of the Chuseok holiday, and spent roughly an hour inside.
The suspects allegedly sprayed lacquer and applied paint to fixtures and other parts of the restaurant. Police are also investigating an allegation that they scattered an unidentified substance believed to be pesticide over food ingredients. The precise nature of that substance has not yet been confirmed.
According to police, the men covered their faces with masks and hats. After leaving the restaurant, they traveled together by taxi to accommodation in Seoul and then went to Incheon International Airport. They are believed to have departed for destinations including Yantai and Shanghai in China.
The restaurant owner reported the break-in at about 8:30 a.m. that day. Officers traced the suspects' movements using surveillance footage and identified them later in the day, but the men had already boarded morning flights out of South Korea. Police said the suspects had entered the country without visas on two occasions between about a month and a week before the incident. Investigators believe they knew the restaurant would be closed for the holiday and had prepared the act in advance.
A possible motive remains under investigation. Police are examining whether the restaurant's name, which is the same as that of China's top leader, may have prompted the attack. The owner said the business had operated under the same name for eight years but had recently received protest calls and visits objecting to it. The owner also said someone sprayed black paint on the sign about two months earlier, an incident that was reported to police.
With all four suspects now outside South Korea, police said they plan to continue tracing them through international judicial cooperation. No arrests have been reported, and the allegations have not been tested in court.