🚨 Public Threats

Today Korean Social News for Beginners | 2026.01.28

0️⃣ New Digital Crime, Identity Theft Threats by Teenagers

📌 Teenagers Created Fake Presidential Assassination Threats...The Reality of New Crimes Starting on Discord

💬 Last year, threats to kill President Lee Jae-myung were discovered to be systematically created by teenagers. They talked on the messenger Discord, stole other people's identities to plan assassination threat posts and false reports, and actually made police and fire departments respond. A student whose identity was stolen had to be investigated even though they had nothing to do with the crime. The teenager identified as the leader continued to make false reports like bomb threats and showed off about it. They were arrested for threatening other teenagers and stealing money. Police are investigating accomplices and similar crimes, but there is still criticism that punishment rules for identity theft threats are insufficient. The anonymity and group nature of closed messengers like Discord are pointed out as factors that increase youth crime, raising the need for legal and educational responses to new digital crimes.

💡 Summary

• Public threats are acts that create social anxiety by warning of serious crimes targeting many people.
• Teenagers stole others' identities to make presidential assassination threats and swatting crimes.
• Punishment gaps for identity theft threats and responses to youth digital crimes remain as challenges.

1️⃣ Definition

Public threats means acts that create social anxiety by warning of serious crimes like murder, explosions, or terrorism targeting many people or unspecified targets. Even without actual intention to commit the crime, it is judged as a crime if there is danger to public safety.

Traditionally, public threats appeared as bomb warnings or terror threats. But recently, false threats using online posts, SNS, and messengers are increasing, expanding crime patterns to digital spaces. Especially, it's becoming a new social problem that teenagers perceive this as a joke or way to show off.

💡 Why is this important?

• Public threats waste huge public resources (police and fire department responses) and create social anxiety.
• Victims whose identities are stolen must endure investigation and social stigma even though they're innocent.
• Youth crime is increasing due to digital space anonymity, requiring legal and educational responses.
• In the current legal system, identity theft threats are in a punishment blind spot.

2️⃣ Current Status and Problems of Public Threats

📕 Increase in Digital Space Public Threats

• Online and messengers have become main crime paths. Main situations are:

  • Threats through online forums, SNS, and closed messengers (Discord, Telegram, etc.) are rapidly increasing.
  • Digital space anonymity and easy access lower the barriers to crime.
  • Many cases where teenagers commit threats as jokes or to show off without recognizing the seriousness.
  • There are structural limits where investigation and punishment are difficult due to cross-border platform characteristics.

• Threats through identity theft have emerged as a new crime type. Main features are:

  • The method of stealing others' personal information or accounts to write threat posts is spreading.
  • Victims whose identities are stolen must be investigated by police and endure social stigma even though they're innocent.
  • It's hard to find the real criminal, and victims spend time and money proving innocence.
  • Current law has insufficient rules to directly punish identity theft threats, creating a legal gap.

📕 Spread of Swatting Crime

• Swatting that mobilizes public agencies with false reports is a problem. Main content:

  • Swatting means falsely reporting murder, explosions, etc. to mobilize police and fire departments.
  • A crime form that started overseas, recently spreading domestically through online communities and game messengers.
  • Not only wastes huge public resources, but risks actual casualties during response.
  • Criminals misuse this as a means to show off or harass others.

• Collective and organized crime patterns are appearing. Main problems are:

  • Cases are increasing where multiple people gather in closed messengers to plan and execute crimes.
  • A culture has formed where crime is perceived as play within groups, sharing and competing on success.
  • Anonymity and collectiveness combine to dilute individual guilt and repeat crimes.
  • Leaders sometimes threaten other teenagers to steal money or make them participate in crimes.

📕 Legal and Institutional Limits

• Punishment rules for identity theft threats are insufficient. Main problems:

  • Current criminal law's threat provisions regulate threats targeting individuals.
  • Threats targeting the public have greater social danger, but existing threat laws are designed focusing on individual protection.
  • Threats through identity theft are in a blind spot because it's hard to specify the perpetrator and punishment grounds aren't clear.
  • The need for special laws to separately punish public threats has been continuously raised, but legislation is delayed.

• Responses to youth crime are insufficient. Main challenges are:

  • Youth crime has been handled from protection and correction perspectives, but for repeated and organized crimes, the need to strengthen criminal responsibility is also raised.
  • Education that clearly recognizes the reality and consequences of digital crimes is lacking.
  • Systematic education about digital ethics and legal responsibility isn't happening in homes and schools.
  • Comprehensive measures for crime prevention and recurrence prevention are insufficient.

💡 Main Problems of Public Threats

1. Digital spread: Rapid increase in threats through online/messengers, crime increase due to anonymity
2. Identity theft: Problem where victims become investigation targets when identity theft threats occur
3. Swatting: Waste of public resources and risk of casualties from false reports
4. Legal gap: Insufficient identity theft threat punishment rules, delayed special law legislation
5. Youth crime: Lack of digital crime education, increase in collective and organized crimes

3️⃣ Response Measures and Future Challenges

✅ Establishing Legal Grounds and Strengthening Punishment

• A special law for public threats should be enacted. Main directions:

  • A special law to separately punish threats targeting the public should be quickly legislated.
  • Provisions to severely punish threats through identity theft should be specified.
  • Enhanced punishment considering public agency response costs and social chaos should be regulated.
  • A balance must be found that protects public safety without violating freedom of expression.

• Protection devices for identity theft victims should be strengthened. Main tasks:

  • Procedures for victims whose identities are stolen to quickly prove innocence should be prepared.
  • Measures to protect victims' human rights and honor during investigation are needed.
  • Press reporting guidelines to minimize social stigma should be established.
  • Legal and institutional support for damage recovery and honor restoration should be expanded.

✅ Strengthening Digital Platform Management

• Responsibility of closed messengers and platforms should be strengthened. Main measures:

  • Monitoring systems should be built to prevent crime planning on closed messengers like Discord and Telegram.
  • Platform operators should faithfully fulfill crime reporting and investigation cooperation duties.
  • For crimes abusing anonymity, identity verification procedures need to be strengthened.
  • Regulation and cooperation systems for overseas platforms should be prepared through international cooperation.

• Reporting systems and investigation capabilities should be strengthened. Main directions:

  • Dedicated organizations to quickly receive and process online threats and false reports should operate.
  • Digital forensic technology should be utilized to quickly identify criminals and secure evidence.
  • Identity theft should be detected early to minimize innocent victims being investigated.
  • Similar case databases should be built to identify organized crime patterns and respond proactively.

✅ Youth Education and Prevention Activities

• Digital ethics and legal responsibility education should be strengthened. Main tasks:

  • Schools should conduct systematic education about the seriousness of digital crimes and legal punishment.
  • Awareness should be raised by specifically explaining new crime cases like identity theft, public threats, and swatting.
  • The importance of responsible online behavior and respecting others should be emphasized.
  • A culture where families also watch children's digital activities with interest and have conversations should be created.

• Prevention and recurrence prevention programs should be operated. Main directions:

  • Teenagers who commit crimes should be provided education and counseling programs rather than simple punishment.
  • Restorative justice programs that make them experience crime consequences and victim suffering should be activated.
  • Education is needed to help critically recognize peer pressure and anonymity culture.
  • Families, schools, and communities should cooperate to help teenagers grow in healthy digital environments.

4️⃣ Related Terms

🔎 Threat Crime under Criminal Law

• Threat crime is a law that punishes threats targeting individuals.
  • Criminal Code Article 283 states "A person who threatens another shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 3 years, a fine not exceeding 5 million won, detention, or a minor fine." A threat means causing fear by notifying harm to the other party, and is established even without actual intention to execute.
  • Main requirements for threat crime are: first, the content of harm must be enough to cause fear to the other party. Second, it must necessarily target a specific individual. Third, it is established by the notification act itself regardless of actual execution. Fourth, the method doesn't matter - text, messenger, phone, etc.
  • However, threats targeting the public are difficult to sufficiently respond to with individual protection-focused threat crimes. When targeting unspecified many people or creating social anxiety, the danger is greater than threats between individuals, but current threat crimes don't sufficiently reflect this. Because of this, the need for special law enactment to separately punish public threats continues to be raised.

🔎 Swatting

• Swatting is a crime of mobilizing police or fire departments with false reports.
  • Swatting comes from the word Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT), and means falsely reporting murder, explosions, hostage situations, etc. to mobilize police special forces or fire departments. A crime form that started overseas, recently spreading domestically through online communities and game messengers.
  • Characteristics of swatting are: first, done to harass others or show off. Second, wastes huge public resources (police and fire personnel, equipment). Third, there's risk of actual casualties or property damage during response. Fourth, criminals often film and share this as videos for enjoyment.
  • In Korea too, swatting crimes occur in forms like presidential assassination threats and school bombing threats. Police and fire departments must respond when receiving reports, so if false reports repeat, response to real emergencies can be delayed. Experts point out that strong punishment for swatting is needed along with building systems to quickly verify the credibility of reports.

🔎 Identity Theft

• Identity theft is using another person's name or information without permission.
  • Identity theft means using another person's name, resident registration number, account, and other personal information without their consent. It's done for various purposes like financial transactions, contracts, and crimes, and victims suffer economic, legal, and social damage.
  • Types of identity theft are: first, opening financial accounts or getting loans in another person's name. Second, writing posts in another person's name on online accounts or forums. Third, forging or stealing another person's ID card or resident registration number to deceive identity. Fourth, using another person's name while committing crimes to avoid responsibility.
  • In recent public threat cases, teenagers stole other students' accounts and personal information to write presidential assassination threat posts. Victims whose identities were stolen had to be investigated by police and endure social stigma even though they had nothing to do with the crime. Current law has insufficient regulations to directly punish identity theft itself, often only resulting in indirect punishment through information and communication network law or fraud. Legislation to strengthen victim protection and perpetrator punishment is urgently needed.

🔎 Discord

• Discord is a closed messenger that allows voice and text chat.
  • Discord is a communication platform originally developed for gamers, enabling voice chat, text chat, and video calls. Users can create servers (rooms) for small group conversations, with a closed structure requiring invitations to enter.
  • Discord's characteristics are: first, high anonymity and closedness make it hard to check internal conversations from outside. Second, free to use and easy access means many teenagers use it. Third, various functions (channels, role assignment, bot use, etc.) are advantageous for community formation. Fourth, being an international platform limits domestic law enforcement.
  • Recently, cases of Discord being misused as a crime planning place are increasing. Using the closed structure and anonymity, teenagers gather to plan and execute public threats, swatting, extortion, etc. Platform operators should actively engage in crime prevention and investigation cooperation, and the government should strengthen regulation and cooperation systems for overseas platforms through international cooperation.

5️⃣ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Can threat posts made as jokes also be punished?

A: Even without actual intention to execute, if it causes fear, it's subject to punishment.

• Threat crimes are established regardless of whether there's actual intention to commit the crime. Because the act itself of notifying harm to cause fear to the other party is a crime. Therefore, even posts written as jokes or to show off can be punished if other people feel fear or social anxiety is created.
• Especially for public threats, punishment is more severe because they waste huge public resources and cause chaos for all of society. Because the ripple effects are large - police and fire departments respond, citizens feel anxiety, media reports spread, etc. Even teenagers can face legal responsibility if they write threat posts as jokes without recognizing the seriousness of the crime. You must be responsible for your words online too and be careful not to harm others.

Q: How should victims whose identities are stolen respond?

A: Immediately report to police and secure evidence proving identity theft.

• If threat posts are written in your name or a crime occurs, you should immediately report to police to reveal you're an identity theft victim. The earlier you report, the more advantageous for proving innocence. Also, you should collect as much evidence as possible - proof you were elsewhere at that time (alibi), evidence your account was hacked, circumstances that others knew your personal information, etc.
• It's also important to get lawyer help to protect your rights during investigation. Identity theft victims are legally innocent people, so care must be taken that human rights and honor aren't violated during investigation. Also, to minimize social stigma, you should respond to press reports, and after the case closes, you can take measures for honor restoration. Identity theft damage is difficult for individuals to handle alone, so you should actively utilize help from legal experts and police.

Q: How can we prevent youth digital crimes?

A: Families, schools, and society should cooperate to provide digital ethics education and attention.

• At home, it's important to take interest in children's digital activities and have conversations. You should know what platforms they use, who they communicate with, and what actions they take online. You should clearly explain the seriousness of digital crimes and legal responsibility, and cultivate an attitude of respecting others.
• Schools should conduct systematic digital ethics education. They should specifically explain new crime cases like public threats, identity theft, and swatting, and make students recognize how much damage these acts cause. They should help critically recognize peer pressure and group psychology, and teach how to act responsibly online. For all of society, comprehensive measures are needed including strengthening platform operator responsibility, strengthening legal sanctions, and building victim support systems. Everyone should work together so teenagers can grow in healthy digital environments.

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