27 January 2012 Last updated at 03:11 ET

Chinese man charged for Japan embassy attack in S Korea

Demonstrators have rallied since 1992 outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul over wartime sex slaves

Prosecutors in South Korea have charged a Chinese man with attempted arson for hurling Molotov cocktails at the Japanese embassy in Seoul.

The 38-year-old from Guangzhou in southern China was identified only by his family name, Liu.

He told officials that his grandmother was forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army during World War II.

He allegedly threw four petrol bombs that left burn marks on the embassy's outer wall earlier this month.

According to South Korean media, he has been in police custody since 8 January.

He reportedly entered South Korea on a tourist visa on 26 December 2011 via Japan. He also claimed to be responsible for an arson attack at the Yasukuni shrine last month.

The controversial shrine in Tokyo is a memorial dedicated to the 2.5 million Japanese who died in wars, including WWII war criminals, and is seen by Japan's neighbours as a reminder of Japanese military aggression.

Mr Liu also said his maternal great-grandfather died after being tortured during the Japanese rule of Korea from 1910 to 1945.

Up to 200,000 women are thought to have worked as sex slaves for the Japanese army in military camps before and during the WWII.

The vast majority of the women were Korean and Chinese.

In December 2011, a group of women who were former sex slaves and their supporters unveiled a statue of a girl in traditional costume outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul during their 1,000th rally.

Demonstrators have rallied since 1992 outside the mission to demand an apology and compensation from Japan.

Japan has apologised and has offered lump-sum compensation, but many say this is not enough.