(2nd LD) Police look into terror threat email against opposition leader

▲ Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, speaks during a meeting with local businesspeople in Gwangmyeong, south of Seoul, on Aug. 8, 2023. (Yonhap)

(2nd LD) opposition leader-bomb threat

(2nd LD) Police look into terror threat email against opposition leader

(ATTN: ADDS more info in paras 5-7; CHANGES lead, headline)

SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Yonhap) -- Police are investigating an email threatening to detonate an explosive in downtown Seoul if South Korea's opposition leader Lee Jae-myung is not killed, officials said Tuesday.

According to the police and the secretariat of the National Assembly, the email threatened to bomb a library in the capital if Lee of the Democratic Party (DP) is not killed by 3:34 p.m. Wednesday.

The author wrote "the range of the bomb was 334 meters from" the library in downtown Seoul but did not specify the library.

They said the email was delivered to a number of people, including officials in the Seoul metropolitan government, the previous day. Sent from a Japanese account, the email contained phone and fax numbers of a Japanese law firm, as well as some unclear English-written messages.

The email, which also mentioned some names of Japanese lawyers, including Takahiro Karasawa, may have been related to email phishing scams prevalent in the neighboring country, insiders said.

The Dai-ichi Tokyo Bar Association, a Tokyo-based lawyers organization, earlier warned of fraudulent emails and phone calls pretending to be from lawyers or law firms, citing the same names used in the email blackmailing the South Korean politician.

"There have been cases of emails and faxes sent to various locations using the name of Takahiro Karasawa, an attorney belonging to the association, or the name of his law firm, Steadiness, demanding payment of money without any basis in fact," it said in a Japanese posting on July 6.

Police received the report around 4:45 p.m. and dispatched a bomb disposal team to conduct a search of the parliament for an explosive.

Investigators are also tracking the email's internet protocol address, while the National Assembly secretariat has provided security protection to Lee and strengthened patrols around the parliamentary building.

The DP confirmed it has received a Japanese terror threat against its leader but said he will go ahead with his schedule the next day.

(END)

(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved