20s Probation for Posting "Looking Forward to Uijeongbu Station" Immediately After Bundang Stabbing Incident

Court: "The nature of the crime is very bad"
Considering the lack of intent to act

A man in his 20s who posted a message online seemingly predicting a violent attack with a weapon at a subway station was sentenced to prison with a suspended sentence.

On the 4th, the Seoul Northern District Court Criminal Division 6 (Presiding Judge Song Hye-young) announced that on the 28th of last month, it sentenced Mr. A, who was indicted on charges of intimidation, to 8 months in prison with a 2-year suspension. The court also ordered 80 hours of community service.

Seoul Northern District Court. Yonhap News

Mr. A is accused of posting a threatening message on an online community at 1:57 a.m. on August 4th last year, saying, "Look forward to Uijeongbu Station the day after tomorrow, XX." The message implied an intention to kill unspecified people at Uijeongbu Station. The timing of Mr. A’s post was immediately after a stabbing rampage in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, which resulted in 14 casualties.

The court stated, "At a time when social anxiety was spreading due to random stabbing incidents, especially since the Bundang Seohyeon Station incident occurred less than a day earlier, writing a message implying the killing of many people is of very poor criminal nature," and pointed out, "This crime caused the deployment of more than 60 police officers at Uijeongbu Station, resulting in unnecessary waste of national law enforcement resources."

However, the court explained the sentencing by considering that Mr. A admitted to his crime and had no actual intention to carry out the act.