[News Today] Stern response to bomb threat prank

[LEAD]
Police launched back-to-back emergency searches after online threats to bomb department stores, prompting mass evacuations and arrests.

A middle schooler and a man in his 20s were caught, with authorities and the store warning of tough legal action.

[REPORT]
‘I set up a bomb on the first floor of the department store.’

This online threat led to some 4,000 people evacuating the building.

That night, another comment threatening to blow up Shinsegae Department Store at five p.m. the following day was posted on a YouTube news channel that reported this incident.

After receiving the report, police searched all Shinsegae branch stores nationwide since 6 a.m.

The man who was caught for writing this threat was in his twenties and living in Hadong, Gyeongsangnam-do Province.

He claimed that it was just a prank.

No explosives were found in the department store, but the police arrested him for public intimidation, an offense under the Criminal Law which involves tougher penalties than the act of making a simple threat.

The police may even ask for damage compensation in addition to imposing criminal liability.

Prof. Kim Sang-gyun / Baekseok University
He could be accused of wasting law enforcement time. Judicial agencies consider such crimes as serious because of high social costs.

The person who posted the threat to blow up the main Shinsegae Department Store first was caught in Jejudo Island.

He was a seventh grader who testified that he was curious about how people would react to the threat.

Jo Man-jin / Jeju Seobu Police Station
He could be held for civil liability. No one should commit such a crime either as a prank or out of curiosity.

The department store estimated that it sustained losses in several hundreds of millions of won and warned of strong legal responses and other tough measures.