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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA -- AN ELDERLY man who torched South Korea's foremost historic landmark, sparking nationwide shock and anger, expressed remorse on Thursday as he was brought before a judge.
The 69-year-old identified only as Chae has told police he set fire to the 600-year-old Namdaemun gate because he was angry with authorities over an unrelated compensation dispute.
"I don't need deliberations on my detention. It's wrong that I set fire to it. I confessed to all of the charges," Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying to reporters before he was brought before the court.
The judge issued a formal arrest warrant extending the detention of Chae, who was arrested on Monday night a day after setting the central Seoul landmark ablaze.
Sorrowful residents are visiting the charred ruin, with some laying white chrysanthemums in a traditional show of mourning.
"We cried together when we watched the news on TV Monday morning," Kwon Jae Yoon, 18, told local media.
"As a citizen of our country, my heart aches."
Chae confessed he had set fire to the gate because of rage over insufficient compensation for the compulsory purchase of his home a decade ago.
He had been arrested in 2006 for trying to set fire to the city's Changgyeong palace over the same grievance. He was then fined and given a suspended prison sentence.
He chose the gate for his latest attack because of its poor security.
Officials have come under angry attack for failing to guard it properly and for inefficient fire-fighting efforts.
The pagoda-style two-storey wooden building built on a stone base was designated national treasure number one.
It was built in 1398, rebuilt in 1447 and renovated several times but still contained some 600-year-old timbers.
The Cultural Heritage Administration says reconstruction will take two to three years and cost 20 billion won (S$29.75 million).
The agency has stopped removing charred timbers from the site following calls from experts to preserve them as cultural artifacts or use them for reconstruction, said Kim Seong Beom, an official of the agency.
One problem with restoration is finding enough pine trees over one metre in diameter, such as the ones used to build the original.
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