Police books man for threatening to attack female protestors with acid

A man in his 20s has been booked without detention for threatening to attack women with hydrochloric acid at a mass rally which took place in Seoul last weekend.

Seoul Hyehwa Police said Thursday that they booked a man, only identified by his surname Kim, for claiming to head to a women’s rally with hydrochloric acid at around 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

The rally, which gathered some 12,000 women on Saturday near Hyehwa Station, was a protest against the “discriminatory treatment” of cases involving male and female victims of digital and online sexual violence.

The mass protest was in response to perceived inequalities in criminal investigations. 

Some 12,000 women gathered in Seoul to protest against the “discriminatory treatment” of cases involving male and female victims of digital and online sexual violence on May 19. (Yonhap)

A female model was promptly taken into custody this month for uploading a photo of a male colleague posing nude on a “radical feminist” website without his knowledge, but protesters say similar crimes by men against women are not investigated with the same sense of urgency.

While the rally was underway, Kim posted a picture of a hand holding a bottle of hydrochloric acid on an online community website, saying that he was heading out now.

Police booked Kim on Wednesday at his house, four days after the rally.

Kim reportedly said during questioning that he had no real intent to stage an acid attack. The picture he had put up was downloaded from the web, according to police.

Police are currently considering whether to request an arrest warrant for Kim.

By Cho Yun-myung (yunc39@heraldcorp.com)