Knife Attacks Followed by Threats of Sexual Assault... Citizens' Daily Lives Engulfed in Fear

383 Murder Threat Posts After Shillim-dong Weapon Rampage
Amendment Proposed to Punish Online Public Threats

Following the stabbing incident in Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, posts predicting knife attacks and sexual assaults have been continuously appearing online, increasing public anxiety. As a result, there are growing calls for legislation to punish acts of public threats made through online platforms.

According to the police on the 16th, around 12:20 a.m. that day, a post stating "I will harm 30 women at Busan Station" was uploaded on social networking services (SNS).

Additionally, on the 15th, a post saying "I will sexually assault girls aged 8 to 13 near an elementary school in Gangnam Station, Seoul" was uploaded on the online community 'DC Inside,' and at 8:17 p.m. on the 14th, a post titled "I want to kill Yoon Seok-yeol" was posted in the 'Han Seok-won Gallery' section of DC Inside.

Since the stabbing rampage in Sillim-dong on the 21st of last month until 9 a.m. on this day, the police have confirmed 383 posts predicting murder. The police have arrested 164 authors nationwide, of whom 17 have been detained.

While there is a consensus that stronger punishment is necessary because such online threat posts create fear and stir social unrest, there are no regulations that directly punish public threats made online. Although the crime of attempted murder (Article 255 of the Criminal Act) can be applied, it is difficult to apply charges unless the target or plan of the crime is clearly specified.

For this reason, the charges applied to Mr. Lee, a man in his 20s who was arrested after posting a message on the 27th of last month stating "I will kill 20 women at Sillim Station" along with a photo of a weapon purchase receipt, were for intimidation rather than attempted murder.

The crime of attempted murder stipulates that "a person who prepares or conspires to commit murder shall be punished by imprisonment for up to 10 years," whereas the crime of intimidation (Article 283 of the Criminal Act) states that "a person who intimidates another shall be punished by imprisonment for up to 3 years, a fine of up to 5 million won, detention, or a minor fine." This means that merely threatening to kill an unspecified number of people may not result in severe punishment.

In response, legislative attempts are underway in the National Assembly. Hong Seok-jun, a member of the People Power Party, has introduced a partial amendment to the "Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection" (Information and Communications Network Act) to directly punish those who post threats such as murder predictions to an unspecified number of people online via social networking services (SNS).

Kim Young-sik, also from the People Power Party, has proposed a partial amendment to the Information and Communications Network Act to punish those who distribute content threatening the public with murder, injury, or other public threats via information and communications networks with imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million won.