Shrine blast suspect re-entered Japan with ‘gunpowder’

TOKYO

Japanese police suspect that a South Korean man arrested over an explosion at a Tokyo shrine for war dead was planning another blast, after a gunpowder-like substance was found in his luggage.

Kyodo news agency cited investigative sources Friday as saying that a granular substance resembling gunpowder and a timer-like device were found in the luggage of Chon Chang Han, 27, after he re-entered Japan through Tokyo's Haneda airport Wednesday.

No one was hurt as a result of what turned out to be a relatively minor explosion in a restroom of the Yasukuni Shrine complex during a Shinto festival on Nov. 23.

Officers reportedly discovered equipment such as a digital timer, wire and explosive powder at the site, and police confirmed that Chon was captured on security footage recorded at the Yasukuni Shrine on the morning of the blast.

He was arrested after landing in Japan on a charge of entering the shrine’s premises with unlawful intent.

Kyodo reported that the suspect first denied involvement in the incident, before admitting to setting an explosive at the site, only to deny his role again.

The agency’s sources reportedly did not come across records suggesting Chon’s involvement in anti-Japanese activities or groups.

The Yasukuni shrine is a highly sensitive site, honoring Class-A war criminals among millions of war dead.

Given the suffering inflicted by Imperial Japan upon South Korea and China, both nations regularly condemn Yasukuni visits by local politicians.

One notable example was Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decision to pay his respects there nearly two years ago.

Last month’s incident was not the first time that the shrine has come under threat, as a fire damaged one of its gates in 2011. A Chinese man was accused of being responsible, but South Korea refused to extradite him to Japan even after he was jailed following a subsequent attack on the Japanese embassy in Seoul.

In 2013, another South Korean threw paint thinner towards an altar after breaking into the shrine.