Police requested a warrant on Friday to arrest a bakery franchise shop owner who confessed to posting a faked photo of a loaf of bread with a dead rat inside to taint his rival shop's image before the Christmas season.
The 35-year-old owner, identified only by his surname Kim, had posted a photo on a popular site saying he found a dead rat in a loaf of bread he bought on Dec. 22 from a leading franchise bakery shop, Paris Baguette.
The "rat bread" photo quickly spread online, but the case drew suspicions when it turned out that the photo was posted under an alias.
Kim, who owned a branch of a bakery franchise called Tous Les Jours in Pyeongtaek, about 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on Thursday admitted that he fabricated the case to hurt his rival store's image and boost sales at his own shop.
The suspect said he had his son buy the bread at the competing store, just 100 meters from his own shop, and used the bag and receipt to make the rat bread look like it was from the rival brand.
Forensic authorities said their conclusions back Kim's account.
"We decided to seek the arrest warrant as (the suspect) maliciously spread false information and caused social confusion, inflicting enormous financial damage to the bakery industry during the peak season," an official at Suseo Police Station said.
Police said they will further investigate whether Kim had planned the crime, raising suspicions after finding a mousetrap in a nearby parking lot. Kim says he acted on impulse after finding a dead rat on the street.