Chinese arson suspect heads home

Chinese arson suspect heads home

A Chinese arson suspect who was released from a Seoul prison after the court decided not to extradite him to Japan, left for home Friday, Yonhap reported, citing multiple sources.

The South Korean court on Thursday rejected Japan's request to hand over Liu Qiang, 38, to be prosecuted for an alleged arson attack in 2011 at a controversial World War II shrine in Tokyo, saying that the crime he had committed was politically motivated.

China welcomes S.Korea denial of Japan extradition appeal

China yesterday welcomed a decision by a South Korean court to turn down a Japanese extradition request for a Chinese national who has served a 10-month jail sentence for an arson attack on the Japanese embassy in Seoul.

"The Chinese side welcomes the result of the case," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in response to a question on the ruling made by the Seoul High Court earlier yesterday. Liu Qiang, the Chinese national, has been properly arranged and will come back to China within days, Hua said.

"The Chinese government attaches great importance to safeguarding Chinese citizens' security and legitimate rights," Hua said, adding that Chinese embassy officials visited Liu several times to offer assistance within their limits.

Liu has served 10 months for throwing Molotov cocktails at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul last January. Japan had sought Liu's extradition over a separate arson attack that caused minor damage at the Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo in December 2011. The shrine honors WWII war criminals among the war dead.