Police searched the Seoul Eastern District Court after it received an email threatening that explosives had been planted in the courthouse. Courts across the country, including those in Jeonju and Cheongju, received similar threatening emails, and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's cyber investigation unit will handle the case on the possibility that one person sent the messages to multiple locations.
According to police and fire authorities on the 26th, a report came in at about 12:44 p.m. that day saying the security team at the Seoul Eastern District Court had received an email threatening to blow up the court and its surroundings.
Firefighters who received the report searched the court together with police and the court's security team from about 1:19 p.m. to about 1:50 p.m. that day. No explosives or other unusual items were found.
The search focused on the public areas of the first through fifth floors of the court building, where visitors have access. A total of 35 police officers and 21 firefighters took part.
Similar emails were sent that day not only to the Seoul Eastern District Court but also to the Jeonju District Court, the Cheongju District Court and other courts nationwide. The emails said homemade bombs had been planted at the courts and nearby, and that they would detonate between 1:34 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Police are checking whether any explosives were actually planted and are looking into how identical emails came to be sent to multiple courts. They are also examining the possibility that the same person is responsible, based on their assessment that the address used in the threatening emails overlaps with that used in earlier comparable crimes.
