Namdaemun (the Southern Great Gate), which was perhaps the most renowned historical landmark in Seoul, suffered arson.

A little bit about the perpetrator:

Chae Jong-gi, a former fortuneteller who was angry about the amount of compensation the government had paid him for the loss of his house to a development project, showed up at Namdaemun.

He wore mountain-climbing clothes, he later told police, and he carried three bottles of paint thinner and two lighters. Two years earlier, he had been convicted of setting a small fire at another ancient Seoul landmark, Changgyeong Palace, but had been given a suspended sentence because of his age and his earnest apology at trial.

After his arrest Monday, Chae again apologized earnestly.

“No words are enough to express my apologies to my children and the people,” he said.

Likely he will not receive leniency this time — something about “fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.”

The destruction of the historical treasure is tragic indeed, but the overreaction of the day goes to the following:

Among South Koreans who watched the landmark burn on TV in real time, there is disbelief and deep sadness. One television commentator compared the experience to watching hijacked airliners fly into the twin towers in New York.

With all due respect to the historical legacy, destruction of material cannot compare to violent deaths of thousands of people. Monuments and buildings can be rebuilt, but the dead cannot be brought back.