Man in His 50s Detained After Threatening 'Knife Rampage at Blue House' While Wearing Electronic Anklet

Seriousness of the crime and lack of social ties
"Significant risk of flight and high risk of reoffending"

A man in his 50s has been detained on suspicion of turning off the electronic monitoring anklet he was wearing while subject to an interim measure in a stalking case and threatening to carry out knife attacks at the Blue House, the National Police Agency and other locations.

A man in his 50s, identified only as A, accused of disabling his electronic ankle monitor by letting its battery run down while subject to an interim stalking order and threatening a knife rampage, is appearing at Seoul Eastern District Court on the 3rd for a pre-arrest hearing. Yonhap News Agency

Yang Hwanseung, chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Eastern District Court, held a pre-arrest hearing on Nov. 3 for a man in his 50s identified only as A, who is accused of violating the Act on Punishment of Stalking Crimes, including by impairing the functionality of his electronic monitoring anklet. Yang issued an arrest warrant, saying, "Given the seriousness of the crime and the lack of social ties, there is a significant risk that he may flee, and the risk of reoffending is also high."

A is accused of calling an official at the Seoul Eastern Probation Office on Nov. 1 and saying, "I will carry out knife attacks at the Blue House, the National Police Agency and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency," then allowing his electronic monitoring anklet to run out of battery without charging it. An interim measure requiring him to wear an electronic location-tracking device had previously been imposed in a stalking case.

Police responding to a report from the probation office arrested A at around 12:20 p.m. that day on a street in Naesu-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. No weapon was found when he was arrested, according to reports.

The Seoul Jongno Police Station, which arrested A, transferred him into the custody of the Seoul Songpa Police Station later that day. A was indicted on stalking charges in September 2026 and is currently on trial.

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