Sending faxes to multiple organizations for three days from the 28th
Suspected same culprit behind August's 'Japan-originated threat emails'
Following the Foreigners Support Center, several institutions including media outlets and the Gyeonggi Pyeongtaek Port Branch Office have also received 'terror threat' faxes under Japanese names, prompting police investigations.
On the 30th, the police announced that multiple 112 emergency calls were received from the previous night until the morning of the same day, reporting faxes stating, "We have decided to carry out sulfuric acid terror attacks on media personnel and their families."
The fax, sent under the name of Japanese lawyer Harada Gakue (原田學植), was written in both Japanese and Korean and included phrases such as "We possess 778 'Kamikaze (神風)' drones loaded with high-performance bombs," and "Sugita Itsuaki and Fukatsu Hinari have been ordered to carry out special attacks on local government facilities, public transportation, and the Japanese embassy."
The Gyeonggi Pyeongtaek Port Branch Office also received a fax at 8:34 a.m. that day stating, "We will blow up the facility." This fax also contained threats to terrorize media reporters. On the 28th, a fax with the same content was received, leading police and others to conduct searches but no unusual findings were discovered.
On the previous day and the night of the 28th, a foreigner support center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, received two faxes consecutively threatening to blow up the National Police Agency, Prosecutor's Office, Ministry of National Defense, and National Tax Service. The faxes were written in Japanese and English, and the senders pretended to be Japanese lawyers Karasawa Takahiro (唐澤貴洋) and Hasegawa Ryota (長谷川亮太). Although the faxes contained addresses, phone numbers, and emails written in Japanese, all were found to be false information.
The Cyber Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency believes that, judging from the content and format of the faxes, it is highly likely that the same perpetrator responsible for the Japan-originated threat email incident in August is involved. In August, starting with Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, a series of threat emails targeting Seoul City Hall, the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office were sent under names such as Karasawa Takahiro, causing police to conduct searches. The police confirmed that these emails were sent from internet addresses (IP) within Japan and requested cooperation from the Japanese Metropolitan Police Department.
Recently in Japan, phishing crimes using stolen identities of actual lawyers or law firm accounts to send emails have been rampant. Lawyer Karasawa Takahiro, whose name was stolen, mentioned in his social networking service (SNS) in August regarding the Korean threat emails, stating, "It seems my name is being used without permission. In Japan, there are cases where such crimes are not effectively controlled, and some extremists are committing these crimes."
As the receipt of threatening faxes continues, the police have strengthened patrols and requested institutions targeted by threats to enhance their vigilance. They also urged people to carefully open packages when receiving deliveries and to immediately report to the police if they encounter any suspicious individuals.
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