Police will file damage claims against the authors of false bomb threats targeting the BTS Gwanghwamun concert, the headquarters of Kakao and KT, and multiuse facilities including Gangnam Station and Busan Station. Separate from criminal punishment, the aim is to hold them civilly liable for administrative expense incurred by police deployment.
The Korean National Police Agency said on the 15th it will file civil lawsuits for damages in three public threat cases, including a terror threat against the BTS Gwanghwamun concert. To prevent the waste of public authority and security gaps caused by public threats and false reports, police have operated damage assessment committees at each city and provincial police agency since Dec. last year.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency will seek 2.28 million won in damages from the author who posted a threat on a BTS Gwanghwamun concert-related board saying "I will put gasoline in a water bottle and throw it." Police calculated the expense, saying the threat required police deployment for on-site response and safety.
The Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency decided to seek 31.91 million won from suspects in bomb threat cases against corporate headquarters including Kakao and KT and multiuse facilities. In the case, four teenagers from Dec. last year to Feb. this year made false bomb threats against corporations including Kakao, Naver, Samsung Electronics, KT and Toss Bank, and against multiuse facilities including Gangnam Station, Busan Station and Cheonan Asan Station.
According to police, a 19-year-old identified as A was indicted and detained on charges of writing seven bomb threat posts from Jan. 5 to 11 against KT, Unjeong Jungang Station, Gangnam Station, Busan Station, Cheonan Asan Station, SBS and MBC. An 18-year-old identified as B was detained and sent to trial on charges of impersonating others to make bomb threats from Dec. last year to Feb. this year against Kakao, Naver, Samsung Electronics, KT, Toss Bank and Seoul Station.
A 15-year-old identified as C was indicted without detention on charges of abetting A's crime, and a 19-year-old identified as D was indicted without detention on charges of making a bomb threat on Feb. 12 against Kakao headquarters. Police will seek 7.5 million won from A, 20.23 million won from B, and 3.05 million won from D, and will demand 1.13 million won in compensation for the joint crime A, B and C committed against KT.
The 31.91 million won calculated by police includes 770,000 won for the 112 dispatch allowance for officers, 19.84 million won for overtime, 10.44 million won for base pay, 560,000 won for fuel, and 300,000 won for meal and travel expenses. Police said 418 personnel were deployed in response, including the Gyeonggi Nambu mobile unit, special assault team and metropolitan preventive patrol unit; Bundang, Suwon Yeongtong and Osan police stations; and staff from the Seoul, South Chungcheong and Jeju police agencies.
At the time, police conducted explosive searches and patrols at corporations including KT, Kakao's Jeju headquarters and Pangyo office building, Toss Bank headquarters, and Samsung Electronics' Seocho office building, as well as at Gangnam Station, Busan Station and Cheonan Asan Station. Police special assault teams and armored vehicles were also deployed at some sites.
The Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency will also seek 1.21 million won in a separate bomb threat case targeting the presidential office and the Blue House. A 28-year-old identified as E was indicted and detained last month on charges of posting on an online community on Dec. 22 last year that E would bomb the presidential office, the Blue House, the presidential residence, and apartment complexes and buildings in Bundang District, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.
The response to this case involved 49 personnel from the Gyeonggi Nambu metropolitan preventive patrol unit and Bundang Police Station over two days. Police assessed the loss at a total of 1.21 million won, including 150,000 won for dispatch allowance, 320,000 won for overtime, 720,000 won for base pay, and 20,000 won for fuel.
Previously, police sought 71.64 million won in damages from a suspect who repeatedly posted that the suspect would bomb Incheon Daein High School, Gyeonggi Choweol High School, Gwangju Geumdang Middle School and South Chungcheong Yonghwa High School, and 3.6 million won from the poster of a bomb threat against Seoul Wolgye High School.
The latest damage claims are limited to the police's administrative expense. If the targeted corporations or tenant businesses separately seek damages, the total could rise. In fact, during the Kakao threats in Dec. last year, employees at Kakao's Pangyo office building and Jeju headquarters shifted to working from home, and tenants in the Pangyo building also evacuated, according to reports.