South Korea: 200 evacuate following bomb threat targeting gaming festival in Seoul

About 200 people were evacuated on Saturday after a message threatening to detonate a bomb at a gaming festival in Seoul

Seoul: About 200 people were evacuated on Saturday after a message threatening to detonate a bomb at a gaming festival in Seoul surfaced on social media, according to police and firefighting officials.

According to police, a Twitter user posted a message claiming to have placed a bomb at the venue for the Genshin Impact Summer Festival 2023 held at Olympic Park in Seoul’s eastern ward of Songpa earlier in the day, reports Yonhap news agency.

---

The person wrote that the bomb will go off “when the time arrives” and told followers to “look forward to it.” The user also shared photos of what appeared to be the alleged explosive. After discovering the message, organizers suspended the event and reported it to the police.

After searching the venue, police and firefighting officials said there was no bomb at the site. Police are currently tracking down the person who wrote the message, according to the report.

Genshin Impact is a popular open-world action role playing game published by Chinese developer HoYoverse. The company launched the four-day gaming festival for loyal South Korean users on Thursday.