A Man in His 50s Reported to Authorities for False 119 Call Aimed at Tracking His Missing Live-in Partner's Location

Incheon Fire Department 119 Integrated Situation Room
Photo by Incheon Fire Department

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] A man in his 50s was reported to the prosecution for repeatedly making false emergency rescue requests in an attempt to find his cohabiting girlfriend who had left home and obtain her location information.

The Incheon Fire Headquarters announced on the 8th that they had reported Mr. A to the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office on charges of obstruction of official duties by deception.

It was found that from the 14th to the 30th of last month, Mr. A made about 50 false emergency calls to the Seoul Comprehensive Disaster Prevention Center and the Incheon Fire Headquarters' comprehensive situation room, attempting to check the location information of his cohabiting girlfriend, Ms. B.

He initially called the Seoul Comprehensive Disaster Prevention Center, falsely claiming to be Ms. B's son, and reported, "Ms. B is suffering from depression and panic disorder, has said she will die, and has left home, so please track her location and conduct an emergency rescue."

However, after the Seoul Fire Headquarters contacted Ms. B before checking her location, she stated that she had left home after living with Mr. A and directly applied to refuse location tracking. Despite this, Mr. A did not give up and impersonated Ms. B's voice to cancel the location tracking refusal registration at the Incheon Fire Headquarters and then made another emergency rescue request.

Eventually, when the emergency rescue request was received and Ms. B's mobile phone was found to be turned off, the Incheon Fire Headquarters judged it to be an emergency situation and dispatched police to conduct a joint search.

Mr. A made about 30 false reports to the Incheon Fire Headquarters' comprehensive situation room over two days from the 14th to the 15th of last month, and continued to make calls attempting to check Ms. B's location thereafter. During this process, he also verbally abused fire officials for not complying with his demands.

The Incheon Fire Headquarters judged that Mr. A's obstruction of official duties was serious, submitted a complaint to the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office after legal review, and under the prosecution's direction, the Incheon Namdong Police Station began an investigation.

Obstructing the execution of official duties by deception is punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won. Additionally, false emergency rescue reports may incur a fine of up to 10 million won under the "Act on the Protection and Use of Location Information," and a fine of up to 2 million won under the "Basic Fire Services Act."

An official from the Incheon Fire Headquarters stated, "False emergency rescue reports waste administrative resources and lower the morale of firefighters. Ultimately, it is a serious criminal act that threatens citizens' safety, and we will respond strictly."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.