Pretrial Detention Denied for 20-Year-Old Who Threatened Stabbing at Yatap Station

"Statement: Crime Committed for Site Promotion"

The arrest warrant for a man in his 20s who posted a 'Yatap Station weapon rampage threat post' on an online anonymous community he manages was dismissed.

Song Baek-hyun, the chief judge in charge of warrants at Suwon District Court, conducted a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant substantive examination) on the 15th for Mr. A, a man in his 20s accused of obstruction of official duties by threat and deception, and dismissed the arrest warrant. Judge Song stated, "Considering the suspect's remorse, the evidence collected, the circumstances and degree of the crime, and the fact that this is a first offense, it is difficult to recognize the grounds or necessity to detain the suspect at this stage."

A man in his 20s, identified as A, who was arrested on charges of writing a murder threat post related to Yatap Station, is being escorted to the Suwon Nambu Police Station in Gyeonggi after completing the pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing) on the morning of the 15th. Photo by Yonhap News

Mr. A is accused of posting a message titled "On Monday at Yatap Station, 30 people will be stabbed to death" on the B online anonymous community bulletin board he manages last September. The post spread on SNS and other platforms, prompting the police to strengthen patrols by deploying special police forces and armored vehicles around the station.

Site B has its servers in the United States and features introductory texts on its main page such as "A safe community conducted anonymously" and "A site used without worrying about IP or personal information." The police, through international cooperation, identified the location of the site's Seoul office on the 29th of last month, arrested three people including the site operator Mr. C, and conducted a search and seizure of the office. Subsequently, they identified Mr. A's identity and arrested him on the 13th, 56 days later.

Mr. A reportedly stated, "I committed the crime for the purpose of promoting the site."

An armored vehicle of the police special forces is deployed at Yatap Station on the Suin-Bundang Line in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, where a post predicting a violent attack with a weapon was uploaded. Photo by Yonhap News.

The police have also booked three men in their 20s, including operator Mr. C and two other administrators, on charges of violating the Information and Communications Network Act (aiding the distribution of obscene materials) and are investigating them. A police official said, "We plan to investigate other related persons of the site and ascertain the circumstances of the case."