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Suwon District Court Seongnam Branch (Photo: Yonhap News) |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] A teenager who issued bomb threats targeting major Korean companies—including Kakao, Naver, KT Corp., and Samsung Electronics—was taken into custody on the 26th, authorities said.
Kim Ju-gwan, a presiding judge for warrant hearings at the Suwon District Court Seongnam Branch, issued an arrest warrant at around 11 a.m. after conducting a pre-arrest hearing for a high school student identified only as “A,” who is accused of making public terror threats.
“The suspect poses a risk of destroying evidence,” Judge Kim said. “Although the suspect is a juvenile, detention is unavoidable under the circumstances.”
According to investigators, A posted terror threats online on 14 occasions between December 15 last year and January 5 this year, targeting Kakao, Naver, Samsung Electronics, KT, Toss Bank, and Seoul Station.
The suspect is believed to be the final key perpetrator in a series of so-called “swatting” incidents—false reports intended to provoke emergency responses—that sparked public controversy from late last year into early this year.
Investigators said A used a virtual private network (VPN) to route traffic through overseas IP addresses and posted threats under other people’s identities, claiming he would bomb company headquarters or physically harm top executives. He also allegedly demanded large sums of money be transferred to specific bank accounts.
A was reportedly an active and well-known user on the messaging platform Discord, and is believed to have continued the offenses to harass individuals with whom he had personal disputes online, a motive similar to that of other suspects previously arrested on related charges.
The teenager is also accused of posting death threats against President Lee Jae-myung.
Previously, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency confirmed that two teenagers, including A, had posted threats on the 119 emergency reporting website on September 4 last year, stating their intent to kill the president. Although police sought a pre-arrest warrant on charges including intimidation and obstruction of official duties by deception, prosecutors rejected the request. A was later forwarded to prosecutors without detention on the 24th.
Subsequently, the Bundang Police Station uncovered 14 additional swatting cases involving threats against major corporations and reapplied for a detention warrant, which was granted.
Police said they will continue supplementary investigations, including whether additional bomb threats made on the 12th and 14th against Kakao, Samsung Electronics, and Hyundai Department Store were carried out by A—who was not in custody at the time—in an attempt to disrupt the ongoing investigation.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
