Army officer arrested after crashing through Blue House’s gate

An Army officer who was arrested Wednesday for allegedly charging toward a gate of the presidential office in a BMW fled during the investigation and was caught again, military police said Thursday.

Surnamed Kim, a major in his 40s tried to break into the presidential office with his BMW sedan at around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. The man was stopped after he crashed into a barricade installed on the grounds. Police took him into custody on the spot. He was taken to a nearby hospital before the investigation commenced. He was then turned over to military police at around 5:30 a.m. Thursday. 

At around 1:24 p.m., Kim fled while being investigated by military police, only to be caught again about three hours later in a restroom at Nonhyeon Station in Seoul at 4:28 p.m.

According to the Army, Kim was expected to be discharged from the military service in June. He reportedly suffers from a mental illness.

While the motives behind the incident have not yet been clarified, the Army said it will closely investigate the case.

“We are conducting a thorough investigation into the incident,” the Army said in a statement.

Kim was not under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.

(herim@heraldcorp.com)