A text message claiming that Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea had been bombed by the North circulated on Sunday, according to Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency.

“Warning! North Korean bombs hit Yeonpyeong Island at 6:38, killing 62 citizens. Click the link to see video,” the message said.

When the recipients clicked on the link enclosed in the message, they were presented with a photo of a fishing rod to indicate that they were “fished.” In Korea, online users use the term “fished” when a person is deceived by a trick that is usually trivial.

The distributors of the message are presumed to have used Yeonpyeong Island for their scam because it had suffered a lethal attack by the North. The artillery attack in November 2010 killed two soldiers and two civilians.

Incheon police announced on its official blog that the message was a hoax, and said it was attempting to identify the source of the message.

Continuing threats from Pyongyang are spurring rumors about a possible war on the Korean Peninsula.

Officials from emergency 112 call center in South Gyeongsang Province said they had been receiving inquiries concerning rumors about war.

National Police Agency chief Lee Sung-han held an emergency meeting with regional police chiefs on Monday and urged them to cut off groundless rumors about North Korea.


By Yoon Min-sik
(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)