A women's restroom. This photo is not directly related to the article. [Yonhap]
A women's restroom. This photo is not directly related to the article. [Yonhap]

A man in his 40s who entered a women's restroom in Seoul's Seodaemun-gu wearing nothing but fishnet stockings has been taken into custody.

The Seodaemun Police Station said Tuesday it had booked the man, identified only as A, on charges of intruding into a public facility for sexual purposes under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes.

The man is accused of entering a women's restroom in a commercial building in Hongje-dong, Seodaemun-gu, at around 7:30 p.m. Friday, wearing only fishnet stockings.

When a woman inside the restroom tried to report him, A fled into the men's restroom, changed his clothes and escaped from the building.

Police identified the suspect using a photo taken by the reporting woman and closed-circuit television footage, and apprehended him nearby within about an hour of the incident.

Meanwhile, police are continuing their investigation into a series of suspected sexual assault cases near Yonsei University's Sinchon campus in Seodaemun-gu, believed to involve a masked naked man.

Investigators are pursuing the possibility that three cases reported between June and this month were committed by the same person. Police are also looking into whether A is the same individual as the so-called "naked man" near Yonsei University.


bbo@heraldcorp.com