hankyoreh

By Kim Tae-gyu, staff reporter
With the recent decision by the South Korean Ministry of Justice to hand over custody of Liu Qiang, a 38-year-old Chinese national who was arrested in January for throwing a Molotov cocktail at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul while calling for Japan to address the issue of comfort women, a court is now expected to hear the case for his extradition to Japan.
The ministry’s decision was made in the midst of Liu’s claims that he also set fire to the Yasukuni Shrine last December. The Japanese government has requested that South Korea turn him over. Meanwhile, China has asked the South Korean government to repatriate him to China, and considers him a political prisoner.
The Ministry of Justice on Nov. 2 entrusted the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office with deciding on the extradition. The High Prosecutors’ Office asked to issue an arrest warrant for extradition from the Seoul High Court. If the Seoul High Court issues the warrant, Liu will be brought before the court to face extradition to Japan.

Liu is set to be released from his 10-month jail term on Nov. 7.
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