Police file 71.6 million won damages suit against student for prank bomb threats against school

A 71.6 million won ($47,600) damages suit against a high school student who repeatedly posted false bomb threats targeting the student’s school, police announced on Thursday. 

The Incheon Metropolitan Police filed the suit against a detained high school student who was indicted for public intimidation and obstruction of official duties by deception. 

It is the largest damages suit filed by police since the public intimidation law was introduced in March 2025.

The damages were calculated at approximately 57.4 million won for police overtime pay, 13.5 million won for police base salary costs, 280,000 won for emergency police dispatch pay and 500,000 won for travel and meal expenses. 

The teen suspect was indicted for allegedly posting multiple bomb threat messages to the fire department emergency reporting center between Oct. 13 and Oct. 21 last year. The posts claimed explosives had been planted at Daein High School in Seo District, Incheon, where the student attends.

“[The police] can’t do anything because I routed through VPNs [virtual private networks] five times,” he wrote in one post. “The earlier threats were to disperse investigative resources. This time it’s real."

The suspect also reported posting similar bomb threats targeting middle schools and high schools and railway stations in Gwangju, Gyeonggi, and Asan, South Chungcheong, around the same period.

In October, the Incheon Metropolitan Police mobilized counterterrorism units, the 112 management team, regional police units, the criminal mobile unit, cyber investigators and officers from the Incheon Seobu Police Precinct to respond to the threats.

Police from the Gwangju Police Precinct in the Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency, the Gwangju Nambu Police Precinct, and the Asan Police Precinct in the Chungnam Provincial Police were also dispatched in response to the suspect's false terror alerts.

Prosecutors sought a prison sentence of one to one and a half years for the suspect on May 14.

Police are actively pursuing civil liability suits against all bomb-threat suspects, regardless of the extent of damage.

Under the public intimidation law, anyone found guilty of openly threatening unspecified or multiple people with harm to life or bodily safety can face up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won.

Last December, the police filed two damage suits against two prank threats.

One suit sought 12 million won against the person who allegedly posted a bomb threat targeting Shinsegae Department Store in Jung District, central Seoul, in August 2025. The other suit sought 55 million won against the person accused of posting a threat targeting Yatap Station in Gyeonggi in September 2025.

Before the public intimidation law was enacted, police also sought 43 million won in damages in July 2023 from the person accused of posting an online murder threat targeting Sillim Station in Gwanak District, southern Seoul.

Authorities are also preparing for nine additional lawsuits on a similar matter. 

“We will continue responding strictly to such crimes to prevent copycat incidents and minimize public anxiety,” an official from the Korean National Police Agency said.

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 BYUN MIN-CHUL [[email protected]]