Threatening Message About a Bomb at Shinsegae Department Store Turns Out to Be Written by a Middle School Student from Jeju… Punishment Likely to Be Difficult

The individual responsible for a threatening message claiming that explosives had been planted at the Shinsegae Department Store in Seoul, which prompted a large evacuation, has been identified as a first-year middle school student residing in Jeju.

However, this student falls under the category of juvenile offenders, thus it appears he will avoid criminal punishment.

On the 6th, the Jeju West Police Station announced that they had apprehended and are investigating the first-year student, referred to as A, on charges of public intimidation. The police tracked the IP address and apprehended A at his home in Jeju City around 7 PM on the 5th.

A is classified as a juvenile offender (aged between 10 and 14) and will be subject to protective measures instead of punishment.

"I was curious about people's reactions"… Also has autism symptoms

In police questioning, A reportedly stated, "I posted the message about the Shinsegae Department Store explosion because I was curious about how people would react."

According to police officials, A has been known to suffer from severe autism since birth.

Earlier, around 12:36 PM on the 5th, a post titled "Notice of Shinsegae Department Store Explosion" was uploaded to the online community "DC Inside Composite Gallery." The post contained threatening phrases such as, "Never go to the Shinsegae Department Store in Seoul today. I planted explosives on the first floor yesterday. It will explode at 3 PM today." The post was subsequently deleted.

4,000 People Evacuated… Department Store Operations Suspended for 2.5 Hours

Approximately one hour after the post went up, at 1:43 PM, the police received a report from the department store and dispatched units to the Shinsegae Department Store in Myeongdong, Seoul. SWAT teams and detection dogs were deployed, and approximately 4,000 employees and customers were urgently evacuated as internal searches were conducted.

The search continued for about two hours until 3:59 PM but fortunately, no explosives were found. Due to the incident, the department store operations were suspended for about 2.5 hours, resulting in significant financial losses for Shinsegae.

The police are currently reviewing measures considering A's age and health condition and plan to carry out protective procedures in conjunction with relevant agencies.

Image sources: News1, Shinsegae Department Store Main Branch / News1, images of evacuated customers following the terrorist threat message / News1