Man ordered to repay full 12.56 million won police cost after department-store bomb threat

A man in his 20s who posted an online threat to bomb Shinsegae department stores must repay the full 12.56 million won spent on the police response, a Seoul court has ruled.

The Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Division 18 issued the decision on Aug. 28 in a damages suit brought by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. The amount covers police labor, overtime, fuel and meal expenses. The police agency said the ruling was the first case in which the full cost of public security resources wasted on an online threat was recognized as damages.

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Even a single threatening post made as a joke can lead to the large-scale deployment of police resources to protect citizens, and the cost is ultimately borne by taxpayers.

The man posted a false message last August saying, in effect, that he would bomb a department store. After receiving reports, police deployed 277 officers to reinforce patrols around Shinsegae department stores across the country. Officers arrested him in Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said even a threat posted as a joke can trigger a large police operation, with taxpayers ultimately bearing the cost. It said it would apply a zero-tolerance policy to public threats, pursuing both criminal punishment and recovery of the losses they cause.

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We will consistently maintain a zero-tolerance principle, strictly punishing people who make public threats and holding them fully responsible for the resulting damage.