The police said on the 11th that the fax threatening the installation of explosives at the KSPO Dome (gymnastics arena) in Olympic Park, Songpa District, reported on the 10th, was sent from the same number as a fax threatening students with "sulfuric acid terrorism" on the 8th.
A Seoul police agency official disclosed this during a regular press briefing that day. According to a police source, the incident involving the fax hinting at "sulfuric acid terrorism" targeting educational institutions and students on the 8th was in the name of a Japanese lawyer named Takahiro Marasawa. However, the fax threatening the installation of explosives at the Olympic Stadium, which occurred the day before, had a different lawyer's name, although the fax number remained the same.
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that faxes and emails sent under the name of "Takahiro Marasawa" total 44 since August 2023. Among the 44, there were 18 emails and 26 faxes. However, not all 26 faxes had the same number, and only 2 received in August were confirmed to have the same number.
Lawyer Takahiro Marasawa is a real person in Japan but claims he has not committed such crimes. Furthermore, the recent threatening fax listed the name of another Japanese lawyer, leading the police to consider a high possibility of impersonation. However, it is still unconfirmed whether all 44 cases were carried out by the same perpetrator.
The police have assigned the case to the cyber investigation division, stating that they have requested international cooperation investigations from Interpol three times and international criminal justice cooperation five times to identify the fax sender. A police official noted, "Emails, faxes, and internet materials are likely to evaporate quickly, so they need to be obtained swiftly, but international cooperation has time constraints," adding, "There are cases where responses from Japan are delayed or data evaporates, making it difficult to secure clues for identifying the suspect."
It has been confirmed that similar threatening incidents have occurred in Japan, resulting in several individuals being prosecuted, but no information has been received regarding whether the sender is the same as those in South Korea. In consideration of the possibility that the sender is abroad, the police plan to hold coordination meetings with the Japanese embassy soon. However, the police explained that, based on consultations with the National Intelligence Service, the actual likelihood of executing the threats is deemed low.
A police official stated, "It is more likely that the suspect is abroad rather than domestically," adding, "The lawyer's name was impersonated, and until a suspect is identified, we cannot know who sent it and from where, so we cannot rule out the possibility that it is from a country other than Japan." He continued, "Regardless of the likelihood of execution, public anxiety is increasing, and public power is being wasted, so we will actively pursue investigation cooperation."