Two unidentified men broke into a Chinese restaurant in Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, in the middle of the night, damaging the interior before fleeing. Yonhap News
Two unidentified men broke into a Chinese restaurant in Bundang, Seongnam, south of Seoul, in the middle of the night and destroyed fixtures inside before fleeing, police said. Bundang Police Station is tracking the pair on suspicion of property destruction.
The restaurant’s owner, a man in his 30s identified only as A, called the 112 emergency line at about 8:30 a.m. on the 24th to report that someone had broken in and smashed equipment, according to the station. Investigators found that two men wearing masks had sprayed paint on the glass bearing the restaurant’s exterior sign at about 2:40 a.m., then broke through a tempered-glass back door to get inside. They spent about an hour damaging the premises before leaving, the investigation found. The motive has not been officially confirmed.
When officers arrived, the restaurant’s windows were broken, and the point-of-sale terminal at the counter and the chairs bore marks left by a sharp object. Black liquid had been sprayed throughout the restaurant, and several empty pesticide and insecticide containers believed to have been used in the attack were also found. Most of the electronic devices had stopped working. The restaurant had no alarm system, and A learned of the damage only after receiving a call from the building’s manager that morning.
A told police that food ingredients stored nearby also gave off an unusual odor, raising the possibility that the intruders had contaminated them. A did not name a specific suspect but said the attack may have been carried out by people angered because the restaurant’s name is the same as that of a prominent figure in China.
“We have operated under the same name for eight years, but a few months ago we started getting complaint calls and visits from people taking issue with it,” A said. A said someone had also sprayed black paint on the sign two months earlier and fled, and that a police report was filed at the time but the investigation made little progress because the suspect’s movements could not be traced. A estimated the damage at more than 10 million won ($7,200), combining lost business and repair costs.
Police have obtained footage from security cameras at nearby shops and on roads and are analyzing the suspects’ movements in detail. Forensic work at the scene has been completed, and investigators plan to determine whether the food ingredients were in fact contaminated. “As soon as we arrest the suspects, we will investigate the specific charges and the motive,” a police official said.
Dining and Cooking