A rooftop standoff at an apartment building in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]
A rooftop standoff at an apartment building in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]

Police have applied for an arrest warrant against a man in his 50s who staged a roughly five-hour rooftop standoff at an apartment building after being fined for public urination.

The man, identified only as A, climbed to the roof of a building in Uijeongbu-dong, Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, at around 5 p.m. Friday and threatened to jump.

He remained on the rooftop for about five hours before police talked him into coming down.

While police and fire department crews worked to bring him down, nearby roads were closed, disrupting the evening commute.

A had been issued a fine for public urination earlier that morning. Angered by the penalty, he called the emergency line 112, hurled abuse at the operator, then climbed to the rooftop heavily intoxicated, according to police.

The fine for public urination is 50,000 won ($36). Under the enforcement decree of the Minor Offenses Act, urinating or defecating in streets, parks or other places frequented by the public is subject to a fine.

Police applied for an arrest warrant against A on charges of obstruction of official duties through deceptive means.


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