Chaos Over "Bomb Threat at Jeju Airport" via AirDrop During School Trip

File Transfer Feature on Apple Phones
Causes Chaos by Sending to Numerous Unknown Recipients
Gyeonggi High School Student Says "It Was a Prank"

A high school student from the Gyeonggi region who came to Jeju Island for a school trip was caught by the police after sending a photo with the phrase "I have planted an explosive" to an unspecified number of people at Jeju Airport.

Although there was no separate contact information such as a phone number or ID, the photo was sent using Apple's AirDrop feature.

AirDrop is a short-range wireless file sharing service between Apple devices. When the sender shares a file, nearby Apple device users receive a notification with a preview of the file, which can be received for 10 minutes.

Photo shared by Mr. A via AirDrop
[Photo by Jeju Western Police Station]

The Jeju Western Police Station has booked and is investigating a second-year high school student A from the Gyeonggi region who came to Jeju for a school trip on charges of violating the Aviation Security Act (interference with airport operations), according to Yonhap News on the 17th.

A is suspected of sending a photo with the phrase "I have planted a bomb now" to an unspecified number of people using the iPhone AirDrop function in front of Gate 12 on the 2nd floor of Jeju Airport at around 4:58 p.m. on the 14th.

A Jin Air flight attendant who received the photo at the time with AirDrop enabled reported a suspected explosive device to the airport control center.

The police, Jeju Regional Aviation Office, and the Korea Airports Corporation Explosive Ordnance Disposal team (EOD) conducted a search for about 2 hours and 30 minutes around one departing aircraft and some boarding gates in the passenger terminal security area at Jeju Airport, but no suspicious circumstances were found, and the search was concluded around 7:30 p.m.

As a result, the aircraft subject to the search departed 2 hours and 13 minutes later than originally planned.

The police confirmed the suspect's identity by checking the AirDrop transmission range passenger list and closed-circuit television (CCTV), and arrested A in the Gyeonggi region on the 17th.

A stated to the police, "I did it as a prank while waiting to board a flight to Gimpo."

Investigations revealed that A wrote the phrase "I have planted a bomb now" on a photo taken of a friend at a lodging facility in Seogwipo City where he stayed during the school trip.

A police official said, "In a situation where tension is rising worldwide due to bomb terror threats, such pranks and false reports that pose a serious risk to public safety must never happen."

AirDrop also sparked controversy for sending pornographic images

On the 7th, when Apple's new iPhone 14 series was officially released in Korea, citizens were examining the products at the Apple Store in Myeongdong, Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

Meanwhile, AirDrop has been continuously controversial since its introduction in 2013 due to inappropriate uses such as passengers on airplanes making fake terror threats or sharing pornographic images with other passengers, causing flight cancellations.

Last year, it also became a hot topic in China when anti-government protesters used it to spread images criticizing the government.

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