Teenagers Sentenced for Making 17 False Bomb Threats Against Seoul Station and Major Corporations

Teenagers who repeatedly made false threats to plant explosives at the headquarters of KT and Kakao, as well as Seoul Station, have been sentenced to prison and fines, respectively.

The Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Court sentenced a 17-year-old, identified as A, to a prison term of one to two years for charges including public intimidation.

An accomplice, a 15-year-old identified as B who assisted in the crimes, was sentenced to a fine of 8 million won.

Between December of last year and February of this year, A was charged with making 17 separate bomb threats against KT, Kakao, Toss Bank, and Seoul Station while impersonating others.

Investigations revealed that A used a virtual private network (VPN) to bypass security via overseas IP addresses and posted messages under other people's names. In these messages, he threatened to blow up the headquarters of the targeted companies or harm their CEOs.

He also demanded that large sums of money be transferred to specific accounts.

His accomplice, B, was indicted on charges of providing A with the personal information required for the crimes, such as other people's mobile phone numbers and bank account details, and inciting the criminal acts.

The court found the defendants guilty on all charges, stating, "The defendants' actions caused anxiety and harm to the general public, and the deployment of numerous police forces led to an inevitable gap in public security operations."

Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Jang Yu-jin | Graphics by Lee Soo-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.