"I Will Kill People at a Subway Station Tomorrow Morning"... Suspended Prison Sentence for Man in His 20s Who Posted Random Murder Threat

Sentenced to Eight Months in Prison, Suspended for Two Years

Police patrolling at a subway station. Not directly related to the main text. Photo by Yonhap News.

A man in his 20s who posted a message threatening to kill people at Sillim Station in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, has been sentenced to a suspended prison term.

According to the legal community on April 21, Chief Judge Jeong Jeongho of the Seoul Eastern District Court's 8th Criminal Division sentenced Byun (24), who was indicted on charges of obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means, to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, on April 10.

Previously, on July 31, 2023, Byun posted a message titled "I will kill 1,675 people at Sillim Station tomorrow morning" on an online community website from his residence in Songpa-gu, Seoul.

Byun's post also included a file showing a man wielding a Japanese sword. This occurred not long after a "random stabbing rampage" near Sillim Station on July 21 of the same month, in which one person died.

After a netizen who saw the post reported it, five police officers from the Gwanak Police Station in Seoul were dispatched. During the police investigation, Byun claimed he wrote the post simply to attract attention from the general public and had no real intention of committing the crime.

Judge Jeong pointed out, "The false report caused police officers to be dispatched, which significantly hindered the performance of official duties," and added, "The nature of this crime is particularly egregious." However, the judge explained the sentencing by noting, "Byun has admitted to and reflected on his actions, and it appears that he has borderline intelligence, which affects his ability to make sound judgments."

Posting murder threats online can be punished as intimidation or as preparation for murder. Intimidation can result in up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 5 million won. Preparation for murder applies when one prepares to commit murder and is punishable by up to ten years in prison. In the case of intimidation, there must be a notice of concrete harm that could at least be considered likely to occur.

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