Over 2,500 police mobilized for false threats since 2023

Since the July 2023 Sillim Station murder threat, at least 2,500 police officers have been mobilized in response to false public threats targeting unspecified members of the public, including murder warnings and bomb threats, through February this year. The financial damage is estimated at a minimum of 240.65 million won, according to police data.

The figures reflect only cases in which police have filed or are preparing to file civil lawsuits against suspects. When ordinary cases not subject to civil claims are included, the total police resources expended on threat-related crimes are expected to be considerably higher.

According to the Korean National Police Agency on Sunday, police have filed or are preparing civil suits in nine cases involving public threats. These include the July 2023 Sillim Station murder threat, bomb threats targeting Jeju International Airport and other facilities in August 2023, and a series of nationwide bomb threats between September and October last year, including one at Incheon Daein High School. Police estimate the total damages, including labor and fuel costs for officer deployments and explosive searches, at 240.65 million won.

Of the nine cases, six alone required 2,563 officers. The Sillim Station incident involved 703 officers, the Jeju airport bomb threat required 571, and last year’s Shinsegae Department Store bomb threat mobilized 263.

A police official said that when a bomb threat is reported, not only are nearby officers dispatched, but special operations units are also deployed. This, the official noted, inevitably affects the crucial response time for public safety tasks, including crime prevention and emergency interventions.

Authorities have taken a tougher stance toward suspects accused of making public threats amid growing concerns about gaps in citizen safety. Civil suits filed by police against such suspects totaled four over the two years beginning in 2023, rising to five last year.

In the past, civil litigation was generally limited to cases involving large-scale deployments and significant financial losses. Recently, however, frontline units have demonstrated a greater willingness to seek compensation for damages. “Authorities should consider introducing a punitive damages system that would allow courts to award more than three times the actual losses,” said Lim Jun-tae, a professor of police administration at Dongguk University. “Such a measure would raise awareness and help curb false reports, reducing the repeated waste of police resources.”


전남혁 forward@donga.com