Teen found carrying two replica rifles; man wearing electronic ankle bracelet arrested for illegal filming
This year's Seoul International Fireworks Festival drew about 1 million people and wrapped up without any major casualties. Scattered incidents — including illegal filming, a replica firearm report and disputes over seating — broke out at the venue, but police focused on crowd management and accident prevention.
Ko Beom-seok, the newly appointed chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said at a regular press briefing Monday at the agency's office in Jongno-gu that officers had apprehended a festival-goer carrying replica rifles at last weekend's event.
According to police, a 112 emergency call came in at around 3:53 p.m. Saturday reporting "a person walking around with what looks like a gun" in Zone A-3 of Yeouido Park in Yeongdeungpo-gu.
Officers relayed the report to personnel on the ground and searched the area, locating a 15-year-old boy, identified only as A, at around 5:28 p.m. He was carrying two rifles and a replica knife. Upon inspection, both rifles turned out to be imitation firearms fitted with colored parts to distinguish them from real weapons.
The boy told police he had brought the rifles to play a survival game. Officers issued a warning on the spot and closed the case.
"Even if the person thought nothing of it, others could easily mistake it for a real firearm," a police official said. "Objects that resemble actual guns and could cause fear must be licensed under relevant laws."
A separate illegal filming incident also occurred at the festival. The Yeongdeungpo Police Station has booked a man in his 50s, identified only as B, on charges of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes for allegedly filming people using a camera or similar device.
B is accused of secretly filming the bodies of two teenage girls with his mobile phone at Yeouido Han River Park on Saturday. Police, responding to a tip from a bystander at the scene, arrested him in flagrante delicto at around 4:40 p.m. that day.
At the time of his arrest, B was wearing an electronic ankle bracelet. He reportedly denied the charges during police questioning.
Police applied for a detention warrant for B, but prosecutors rejected the request. Officers plan to conduct digital forensic analysis of his mobile phone to determine whether additional offenses were committed.
Police also received one report of a dispute over seating and spot-holding fees on the day of the festival.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said at Monday's briefing that preventing safety accidents from crowd congestion had been its top priority in managing the event.
After the festival ended, however, picnic mats, food wrappers, plastic bottles and other waste left behind by attendees piled up across the venue. Workers from the Han River Authority and outside contractors collected trash through the night, hauling away more than 80 tons of waste from the Yeouido area alone.
newday@heraldcorp.com
