Consequences for 'Department Store Bombing' Threatener: Ordered to Pay Full 12.56 Million Won

[Anchor]

A man in his 20s who was arrested for posting a threat to blow up a department store has been ordered to pay over 12 million won. The court ruled that he must compensate all administrative costs claimed by the police, including personnel expenses, marking the first time a full compensation ruling has been handed down.

Reporter Kim Gyu-ri has the details.

[Reporter]

In August of last year, a post threatening to blow up the main branch of Shinsegae Department Store was uploaded to an online website.

No explosives were found in the subsequent search, but some 3,000 employees and customers were evacuated, and around 240 personnel including the military, police special forces, and firefighters were deployed.

The very next day, a comment saying "I will blow it up too" was posted on a news video covering the Shinsegae Department Store bomb threat incident.

Upon receiving the report, the police once again deployed personnel for searches and security, and set out to track down the suspect.

The police filed a damage compensation lawsuit against Mr. A, a man in his 20s who was apprehended in Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province, and the court ruled that he must pay approximately 12.56 million won.

This means he must pay the full amount of public safety administration costs claimed by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, calculated based on police personnel expenses and overtime allowances.

This is the first ruling ordering the full compensation of all wasted police resources since the public threat crime law took effect in March of last year.

[Kim Bong-seok / Head of Organized Legal Affairs, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency: We will strictly deal with public threat offenders through the judicial process and maintain our stance of holding them fully accountable for the damages incurred as a result.]

Previously, on the 24th of last month, the first damage compensation ruling under the public threat crime law was handed down against a man in his 20s who posted a false threat to murder indiscriminate individuals at Yatap Station the year before last. In that case, the court ruled that he only had to pay about 14 million won, which is 27 percent of the roughly 55 million won calculated and claimed by the police as compensation.

(Video Editing: Ahn Yeo-jin, Design: Park Cheon-woong)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.