Middle schooler arrested after Shinsegae Department Store bomb threat
A middle school student was arrested on Jeju Island Wednesday, one day after an online bomb threat prompted the evacuation of some 4,000 people from a major department store in central Seoul, police said. According to Jeju police, the suspect — identified only as a boy in his teens — was apprehended at his home in Jeju City around 7 p.m. Tuesday. Authorities tracked him down by tracing his internet protocol address after the threatening post appeared on the online forum dcinside around noon. The message, titled “Shinsegae Department Store Bombing Notice,” claimed that explosives had been planted on the building’s first floor and warned of a detonation at 3 p.m., urging the public to avoid the store that day. Police received a report about the post about an hour later at 1:43 p.m. and by 2:25 p.m., police officers and special forces had evacuated approximately 3,000 shoppers and 1,000 employees, sealing off both the main and annex buildings. Over 240 police personnel and emergency responders were deployed, and a search continued for around an hour until 3:59 p.m. No explosives w
Aug 6, 2025By Lee Hae-rin
