The trial of a South Korean who has admitted to setting a small explosive at Yasukuni Shrine in late November began Tuesday at the Tokyo District Court.

Chon Chang-han, 28, is on trial for trespassing at the Tokyo shrine, as well as smuggling gunpowder into Japan and damaging the ceiling of a restroom at the shrine.

He has admitted to the charges.

No one was injured in the incident.

According to the indictment, Chon’s antipathy toward the controversial war memorial built up during his five years of service in the South Korean military from the age of 20.

Yasukuni Shrine is viewed by some nations as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism in Asia, as it honors convicted several Class-A war criminals along with about 2.5 million war dead.

The indictment said Chon entered the shrine’s grounds to set an explosive on the morning of Nov. 23, 2015.

Finding it crowded with visitors and security guards, however, he decided to set the explosive, made by hand from black gunpowder and metal pipes, in the restroom near the south gate, which allegedly damaged the bathroom’s ceiling.

He returned to South Korea soon after the incident but flew back to Tokyo’s Haneda airport two weeks later, carrying gunpowder in his luggage, and was arrested at the airport.

According to the indictment, Chon returned to Japan intending to detonate another bomb, made with a pressure cooker, to attract more attention.

Chon emerged as a suspect in the incident after being filmed by a surveillance camera before and after the blast.

Investigations have reportedly revealed that batteries bearing Korean letters and a digital timer were found at the scene. It has also been reported that DNA samples obtained from items left at a Tokyo hotel room where Chon stayed in November were identical to that from a cigarette butt found at the explosion site.

Chon’s lawyer said that despite intense attention from the general public, there is room for leniency given that the incident was not connected to organized crime and that no people were harmed.

According to news reports, there is no record of Chon being involved in anti-Japanese activities or having connections to such organizations.