Threatening letter sent to US Embassy

By Kim Jae-won

Police said Thursday they have launched an investigation into a letter delivered to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul that contained threats against American citizens here.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) said the letter, written in both Korean and English, reads “American citizens living on the territory of South Korea will be subject to attack if they continue with war games.” It was sent to the American Embassy on Monday.

The letter also attached a photo of a pressure-cooker bomb similar to the ones used in the Boston Marathon attack last month, police officers said.

Investigators suspect the letter could have been sent by the same suspect who threatened Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin last week with a parcel containing a threatening letter and suspicious white powder, which turned out to be wheat flour.

In that letter, the writer said Kim could be executed if he continues to make “war rampage” against North Korea. Kim has been condemned by the North for his stern stance against its provocations.

Police said they have raided the house of a prime suspect in the parcel incident, but failed to find any relevant evidence. The foreign affairs bureau of the SMPA is in charge of the case, a spokesman of the agency said.

However, the U.S. embassy did not take the threat seriously, saying it is common to get such letters. “The U.S. Embassy often gets such threat letters,” said Choi Seong-wan, a spokesman of the embassy.

The threats were delivered amid rising tensions between the two Koreas since February, when the North conducted its third nuclear test. The South this week withdrew most of its remaining business people from the inter-Korean Gaeseong Industrial Complex in North Korea, after the North refused to engage in dialogue on the complex.

Observers say that the threats may be connected to pro-North Korean groups here which have supported policies of the Communist state. They say the words and phrases used in the letters are similar to those of North Korea, hinting that they may have been sent from the North or by pro-North Korean activists.

For instance, the expression “war rampage,” which was used in the letter to the defense minister, is often used in the North’s propaganda media, condemning the South and the U.S. for conducting military drills.