Bomb Threats Target Both Kakao and Naver; Employees Advised to Work from Home

Suspected to Be the Same Person as Previous Day's Threat Poster
Naver and Kakao Jeju Employees

Posts threatening to plant explosives were consecutively uploaded targeting the two major platform companies, Naver and Kakao. Employees at Naver and Kakao's Jeju offices evacuated and switched to remote work.

According to the IT industry on December 18, around 8 a.m. that day, a post was uploaded on the Kakao CS Center (customer center) website under the name of a student, referred to as A, attending a middle school in Gwangju Metropolitan City. The post claimed, "I have planted explosives at Kakao Pangyo Agit, the Jeju headquarters, and at Naver."

Green Factory, Naver Headquarters in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province and 1784. Photo by Naver

However, the police believe that someone impersonated A. The previous day, a post under A's name was also uploaded to the Kakao CS Center bulletin board, threatening to blow up Kakao Pangyo Agit. However, after searching the building, no explosives or other suspicious items were found. It is known that A has already reported the identity theft to the police.

The police suspect that the same person who committed the act the previous day impersonated A again to make a second bomb threat. Judging the risk to be low, the police decided not to conduct additional searches at Kakao Pangyo Agit and Naver's headquarters buildings, 1784 and Green Factory.

However, for Kakao's Jeju headquarters, which was newly mentioned as a target in this latest threat, the police bomb squad was dispatched to the scene and is currently searching for explosives. A Kakao representative stated, "A threatening message was received through the customer center, so verification work is underway at the Jeju office," adding, "Employees working at the Jeju office have switched to remote work."

Naver also recommended all headquarters employees work remotely as a precautionary measure.

Previously, on December 15, an individual identified as B, who claimed to have dropped out of a certain high school, posted on the CS Center bulletin board, stating that they had planted a homemade explosive at Kakao Pangyo Agit and threatened to kill a senior company official with a homemade firearm. At that time as well, all Kakao employees switched to remote work, causing a commotion. It has also been reported that B is claiming to be a victim of identity theft.