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Police pursuing civil damages against man who made Shinsegae bomb threat

Published: 16 Oct. 2025, 14:46 Updated: 16 Oct. 2025, 18:53

Police special forces move after completing a bomb sweep at the Shinsegae Department Store in central Seoul on Aug. 5, following an online threat posted on a web forum claiming that explosives had been planted inside the building. [NEWS1]

Police say they will seek civil damages from a man in his 20s who posted an online threat to blow up the Shinsegae Department Store in Seoul.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Thursday it has decided to pursue damages from the man, who is accused of making a public threat by posting in August that he would blow up the Shinsegae flagship store in Jung District, central Seoul.

Police are pushing to include not only personnel dispatch allowances and fuel costs but also labor expenses in their claim against the man for prompting a large-scale, wasteful deployment of public resources. Applying that measure would bring the total to about 20 million won ($14,100).

Investigators say the suspect posted a comment suggesting terror on a YouTube video that reported an earlier online post — dated Aug. 5 — claiming “I will blow up the Shinsegae flagship tomorrow.” The suspect did not name a specific location but wrote, “Tomorrow, Shinsegae, 5 p.m.,” authorities said.

The comment prompted a series of explosive-search operations from 6 a.m. that day at Shinsegae branches across the country, including Starfield Hanam and the South City store in Suji, Yongin, involving firefighters, explosive ordnance teams and special police units.

Members of the Special Operation Unit leave Shinsegae Department Store’s main branch in Myeongdong, central Seoul, after completing a search for explosives on Aug. 5, following an online post on a community site claiming a bomb had been planted inside the store. [NEWS1]

Yongin Seobu Police Precinct traced the comment’s IP address, identified the suspect and coordinated with the Hadong Police Precinct in South Gyeongsang. The man was arrested in Hadong County at about 8:40 a.m. on Aug. 6.

Police say the unemployed suspect told investigators he “left the comment as a joke.” No explosives were found at his home, and searches of the Shinsegae stores were halted only after his arrest.

Police said they will not seek damages from a separate suspect — a first-year middle school student who posted a similar threat at 12:36 p.m. on Aug. 5 — because he is a minor and the damage in his case was relatively small. Authorities said the adult suspect’s vague wording led to the deployment of more personnel and equipment and that searches continued overnight, increasing costs such as night-duty allowances.

Authorities are dispatched at the Shinsegae Department Store main branch in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, on Aug. 5 following an online post claiming to have installed bombs at the first floor of the building. [NEWS1]

The middle schooler posted a message on online community DC Inside titled “Shinsegae Department Store Bomb Alert,” claiming he had planted explosives and implying an imminent attack. That post caused about 4,000 employees and customers to evacuate and prompted a 90-minute search of the store by 242 officers, including special units.

The boy was detained at his home in Jeju Island on charges of making a public threat and told police he was “curious to see how people would react” if he posted a bomb warning.

The civil claim against the adult suspect will proceed after the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency consults with the National Police Agency and obtains final approval from the Ministry of Justice.

Yoo Jae-seong, acting commissioner of the National Police Agency, on Aug. 7 — two days after the Shinsegae scare — ordered authorities to consider not only stern criminal punishment for terror threats but also actively pursue civil claims for damages.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHO MUN-GYU [[email protected]]