Teenager questioned for online threat against Lee, ruling party leader
President Lee Jae Myung, center, shakes hands with Rep. Jung Chung-rae, head of the ruling Democratic Party, at the National Assembly, June 26. Korea Times photo by Ko Young-kwon
Police questioned a teenager Saturday for allegedly posting a message online threatening to kill President Lee Jae Myung and Rep. Jung Cheong-rae, head of the ruling Democratic Party.
The teenage boy, living in the city of Gimpo, west of Seoul, allegedly wrote recently in an Instagram group chat with acquaintances that he would "take one of them," referring to the president and the opposition leader, according to police.
After receiving a request for assistance from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, the Gimpo Police Station located the suspect at his home and asked him to appear for questioning.
Accompanied by his parents, the teenager admitted that he wrote the message "in a fit of anger" while chatting with friends, according to investigators.
Police said they will determine whether the action constitutes a criminal offense through further investigation.