Seoul filed criminal complaints against five people, saying their repeated calls and texts disrupted emergency operations
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Friday it had filed criminal complaints against five people who made a combined 8,710 calls and texts to the 119 emergency line from September 2025 through August 2026.
The city said the repeated contacts disrupted its emergency operations center. Some callers stayed silent after dialing, while others sent unrelated photos or asked to be taken home while drunk.
The five contacted 119 a combined 4,034 times from June through August. The Seoul Emergency Operations Center sent several warning texts, but the five continued to make the same or similar reports, the city said.
One person alone accounted for 5,547 of those contacts, making 2,661 calls and sending 2,886 text messages.
The center reviewed the content, frequency and timing of calls and texts from the 10 people who most frequently contacted 119 for reasons unrelated to its services during those three months.
It then sought legal advice from the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters’ special judicial police team to assess whether the conduct was intentional and whether it amounted to obstruction of duties. The city filed its complaints after the review.
The center said it would continue to take action against conduct that disrupts its operations, weighing the content and frequency of calls and texts, the intent behind them and their impact on emergency response.
“We ask citizens to help foster responsible reporting practices so that 119 can respond swiftly in emergencies,” said Hong Young-geun, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters.
shwang9@heraldcorp.com
