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Woman arrested for making threats during fireworks festival

Published: 28 Sep. 2025, 20:08

A police logo [YONHAP]

An office worker in her 30s has been arrested on Sunday for threatening to "open fire at anyone" at the Seoul International Fireworks Festival, which took place on Saturday evening.

Authorities from the Gwangju Metropolitan Police said they detained the female office worker in her 30s for making a public threat.

On Saturday, the day of the fireworks festival, the suspect allegedly commented on an Instagram post about the event that they would “carry out a mass shooting targeting an unspecified number of people.” A citizen who saw the comment reported it to the police through the 112 emergency hotline.

Investigators worked with Instagram headquarters and international agencies to identify the suspect, who lives in the Seoul metropolitan area. Police arrested them the following morning.

“We need to investigate further to determine whether the post was false,” a police official said. “But when we arrested the suspect at their residence, we did not find any firearms or explosive materials. We plan to determine their motive and other details before deciding on custody.”

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 JI-HYE [[email protected]]