Man nabbed for raping South Korean music festival volunteer
TSUSHIMA, Nagasaki -- A 20-year-old man who raped a South Korean university student visiting Nagasaki Prefecture as a volunteer in a friendship music festival has been arrested, police said Saturday.
The 20-year-old, Daizo Konishi, was arrested on suspicion of raping the student on a road in Tsushima on Friday. He has admitted to the allegations against him, police said.
Investigators said Konishi choked the student with both hands as he raped her at about 11:30 p.m. on Friday.
The 22-year-old student had come to Tsushima from the South Korean city of Pusan to work as a volunteer in the Tsushima Chingu Music Festival 2006. Konishi was working part-time at a seaside clubhouse.
Police said that Konishi had met the student prior to the incident. As they were walking along a road he suddenly attacked her, investigators said. The student filed a police complaint in the predawn hours of Saturday.
The festival is held every year with the aim of promoting exchange between Japan and South Korea through music. In South Korean "chingu" means friend. This year's lineup of Japanese singers included Ryoko Moriyama and Hitoshi Komuro. Four South Korean students, including the 22-year-old victim, were participating in the festival as volunteers.