A man in his 40s has been sentenced to prison for terrorizing residents by leaving a false note implying a terrorist threat at an obstetrics and gynecology clinic and wandering the hallways of an apartment building while carrying a weapon.

Cheongju District Court announced yesterday (August 24) that Judge Ji Yoon-seob of Criminal Division 3 sentenced Defendant A, who was indicted and detained on charges of making public threats and possessing a weapon in a public place, to one year and six months in prison.

Defendant A was brought to trial on charges of leaving a note on a waiting room table at an OB-GYN clinic in Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju, at around 3:00 p.m. on December 27 of last year, introducing himself as an FBI agent and writing, "There is a terror threat. Transfer patients to another hospital first."

Two days later, a hospital employee discovered the note and reported it, prompting police commandos and firefighters to rush to the scene and search the inside of the hospital.

Defendant A is also charged with wandering around the hallway of an apartment building in Yullang-dong, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju, for about 10 minutes while holding a weapon and shouting loudly on April 7.

Judge Ji stated in the ruling, "The defendant caused a public threat and resulted in the dispatch of numerous firefighters and police commandos," adding, "The sentence was determined by comprehensively considering factors such as the difficulty for the defendant's family to protect or control him while he suffers from psychological difficulties."

(Photo: Yonhap News)