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Police to establish teams to investigate bomb threats ahead of APEC summit

Published: 18 Sep. 2025, 09:58

A police special forces detection dog searches for explosives at a department store in Gwangju on Aug. 11. [YONHAP]

Police plan to set up dedicated teams at 18 metropolitan and provincial police agencies to investigate bomb threat cases as Korea prepares for the APEC summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, set to run from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1.

An APEC planning unit within the National Police Agency drew up the plan after a surge in hoax bomb and terror threats across the country and aims to speed up responses. The teams will draw veteran officers from violent crime squads, cyber investigation units and front-line detective bureaus at each regional agency.

The government is beginning preparations on the assumption that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the summit.

Police are also drafting measures to ensure the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) on Nov. 13 proceeds without disruption. The CSAT, also known as suneung, is an annual state-administered exam that can determine college entrance for test-takers in Korea.

Authorities established hotlines between regional police agencies and local education offices and, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, completed guidance on safety procedures in the event of threats.

“The CSAT is an event that makes the entire country ‘pause,’” an Education Ministry official said. “We are working with police to prevent the worst-case scenario in which hoax threats disrupt the exam.”

Police submitted the plan in writing to the National Assembly on Sept. 12.

Authorities also plan to strengthen civil damage claims against perpetrators. The National Police Commission approved a framework on Sept. 1 to toughen responses to bomb threats and false 112 police hotline reports, including the creation of damage claim review panels at each regional agency to assess losses and seek civil and criminal penalties.

A police special forces detection dog searches for explosives at a department store in Gwangju on Aug. 11. [YONHAP]

“Korea recognizes legal guardians, and when a minor’s act leads to grave consequences, we need to hold guardians responsible,” a commission member said.

Over the past five years, the government pursued civil damage claims in only three cases each of public threats and 112 reports. Many of the recent hoax bomb and terror threats have involved impersonating a Japanese lawyer, which makes it difficult to track suspects.

Since August 2023, perpetrators have used the name of Japanese attorney Takahiro Karasawa to send faxes and emails falsely claiming explosives had been planted. Police dispatched a delegation to the National Police Agency of Japan from Sept. 10 to 12 for a joint investigation.

Similar offenses have continued. A caller on Tuesday falsely threatened to detonate a “nuclear bomb” at an elementary school in Suwon, Gyeonggi, prompting the evacuation of about 300 students and staff.

Police statistics delivered to Democratic Party lawmaker Yang Bu-nam show 240 hoax terror threats from January to April this year, up from 108 in all of last year, while arrests in the period fell from 64 to 38.

Police also established guidelines on risk assessment on Aug. 19, but decided to keep the details classified.

“We made the decision because terrorists could study our response measures and find ways around them,” a police official said. “We intend to resolve the serious waste of public resources caused by false reports as quickly as possible.”

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 KIM JEONG-JAE [[email protected]]