5-year jail term sought for parcel bomber

Prosecutors have sought a five-year jail term for the Yonsei graduate student who was arrested for the parcel bomb attack on a college professor last June, local media outlets reported Wednesday.

Prosecutors said that the 25-year-old suspect surnamed Kim is guilty of detonating an explosive device and causing serious injury to his mechanical engineering professor. 

It is said that the tumbler parcel bomb made by Kim had incorporated all the structural elements of an “Improvised Explosive Device,” according to prosecutors.

The prosecution presented initial police reports, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s forensic investigative reports on testing of a tumbler IED device and the victim’s photos during treatment of burns as evidence. 

Kim’s lawyers, however, insisted on the “lack of evidence” of an explosion and instead described the parcel bomb as “bursts of small flames.” They also tried invalidating the professor’s seriousness of injury and stated that Kim had only caused minor injuries to the victim.

It has been reported that Kim has submitted 15 letters of apology to the Seoul Central District Court.

Kim is expected to stand trial on Nov. 22.

By Catherine Chung (cec82@heraldcorp.com)