Bomb threat clears Seoul’s Shinsegae department store

An online bomb threat prompted the evacuation of more than 4,000 people from the Shinsegae Department Store in Seoul’s Myeong-dong district on Monday afternoon. A police search with a special operations team found no explosives.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said a post titled “Shinsegae Department Store Bombing Alert” was uploaded to the online forum DC Inside at 12:36 p.m. The author wrote, “Do not go to the main branch of Shinsegae today. I planted explosives on the first floor yesterday. It will blow up at 3 p.m.” The store had been closed the previous day, Aug. 4.

Police received the report at 1:43 p.m. and alerted Shinsegae management by 1:59 p.m. The store then issued an emergency announcement, saying police were responding to a possible threat inside. By 2:25 p.m., about 3,000 shoppers and 1,000 employees had evacuated the main and annex buildings.

Police deployed 242 officers, including a special operations team, to search the premises but found no explosives. Shinsegae resumed operations at 4:20 p.m. after confirming the area was safe.

In a statement, Shinsegae said the police had confirmed the online bomb threat was false and that the store had returned to normal operations. The company added that it would take strong action, including legal measures, against those who spread false information and threatened public safety.

Police said they are tracking the suspect’s IP address as part of an ongoing investigation.


이수연 lotus@donga.com