Legal blind spot complicates punishment of online threats

A man arrested for posting a message online to kill at least 20 women in Sillim-dong, Seoul, is being led into a hearing at a court in Incheon for his arrest warrant on Aug. 22. [YONHAP]

The dearth of specific laws to punish the making of threats online has left the authorities in the lurch, even after arresting hundreds of suspects for threatening to go on stabbing rampages.

The National Police Agency’s cyber investigations bureau had inspected at least 479 cases of threats posted online as of Tuesday morning. Most of them spoke of going on stabbing rampages like the two attacks that shocked the nation this summer.

Police were able to track down a total of 236 authors, of whom 23 were arrested and detained.

However, their next course of action is less clear as Korea’s criminal law does not specifically address the act of posting online threats to kill people.

“We are in need of new laws to take action,” said an official of the National Police Agency while speaking with the JoongAng Ilbo recently.

Another high-ranking police official told reporters on Aug. 7 that the authorities will have to look into “creating a new precedent” regarding the recent bouts of online posts threatening to kill people randomly.

The criminal code states that anyone who intimidates specific individuals shall be punished by up to three years of imprisonment with hard labor, or with a fine of up to 5 million won ($3,780).

However, applying the law to posting threatening messages online becomes problematic when it is difficult to define the receiving end of said intimidation.

“There needs to be a clear receiving end of intimidation for the law to apply,” said Yang Jin-ho, judge of Seoul Central District Court during a trial on Aug. 25.

Standing before Yang was the culprit, a 26-year-old man surnamed Lee, who had posted an online threat to kill 20 random women on the streets of Sillim-dong in Seoul.

Lee had even purchased a type of weapon, at least 12.8 inches long.

“There is a need for further review to identify the people who were directly intimidated by Lee’s post,” Yang said.

Courts have also ruled differently on cases of online threats.

A man diagnosed with schizophrenia posted an online threat to bomb the home of then-President Park Geun-hye in Seoul on social media in January 2015. He posted a total of six such threatening messages, some with photos of a sniper.

Arrested and investigated, the man was indicted for intimidating the president with his threats.

The court in its first ruling pronounced him guilty of the crime and sentenced him to eight months in prison.

When the man appealed, the court in its second ruling doled out a lighter sentence, convicting him of attempted intimidation.
It said that it was difficult to gauge if the man’s intimidation had indeed reached the victim.

Prosecutors have also tried to charge people who post threatening messages online with obstruction of public duty.

A man who posted 13 messages online about stabbing at least 30 people to death in Gijang County, Busan, was given a suspended sentence for obstruction of public duty in January 2015.

A total of 200 police officers were dispatched to the sites of his threatened rampages.

Different bills have been proposed at the National Assembly in recent months, including one by People Power Party Rep. Hong Suk-joon last month. The bill proposes that anyone who posts an online message about threatening to harm others should be sentenced to up to five years in prison or fined up to 50 million won.

Lawmakers in their bill proposals have cited examples in Germany and the United States, where existing legislation punishes the posting of threatening messages online.

BY LEE YOUNG-KEUN,ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]