‘I Wanted to Test the Police’ — Man Who Posted Fake Airport Bomb Threats Ordered to Pay ₩29 Million in Damages

By Juwon Kang, April 29, 2026

The Incident

– On the night of August 6, 2023, a man in his 30s identified as A posted six bomb threat messages over a three-and-a-half-hour period on a Korean online community forum.
– The posts claimed he would carry out bomb attacks at five major airports — Jeju, Gimhae, Daegu, Incheon, and Gimpo — and that he had already planted a bomb at Jeju Airport and would stab people leaving the terminal.
– The threats triggered the deployment of over 170 police officers at Jeju Airport alone, with armored vehicles mobilized in Busan for on-site searches.

The Civil Lawsuit

– The Ministry of Justice calculated the state’s total losses at ₩32.3 million and filed a civil damages claim against A.
– A’s defense argued the government had simply been fulfilling its duty to protect public safety and that the costs incurred could not be treated as compensable losses.
– The Jeju District Court rejected that argument, finding that A could clearly have foreseen that his posts would trigger a large-scale emergency response — particularly given the heightened public anxiety over random-motive crimes at the time.
– The court applied a 90% liability cap to account for the possibility that some police overtime and expenses may have been incurred for unrelated reasons, resulting in a damages award of approximately ₩29.28 million plus accrued interest of around ₩3.86 million.

The Criminal Case

– In separate criminal proceedings, A was convicted of intimidation, obstruction of official duties by deception, and violations of the Aviation Security Act, and sentenced to one year and six months in prison at first instance.
– On appeal, the sentence was increased to two years and six months, with the appellate court finding his conduct particularly egregious.
– The Supreme Court dismissed his further appeal, finalizing the sentence.
– A told the court he posted the threats because he “wanted to test whether police could catch him” and thought more alarming content would trigger a faster response.

Why This Case Matters

– This ruling establishes that the state can recover emergency response costs from individuals who cause large-scale false alarms — the government is not simply absorbing the cost as part of its public safety mandate.
– It is a useful precedent for practitioners dealing with malicious hoax cases, showing that civil liability runs alongside criminal punishment and is not negated by the argument that the state was “just doing its job.”
– The partial liability cap is also noteworthy: even where fault is clear, Korean courts will adjust damages downward when the precise causal contribution of the defendant’s act cannot be perfectly isolated from other expenditure.

Article: https://www.mt.co.kr/society/2026/03/27/2026032719012659408