Police have launched an investigation following the spread of false information online claiming that 900,000 barrels of oil were diverted from the Ulsan storage facility to North Korea.
Seoul Police Chief Park Jung-bo announced during a regular press briefing at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Monday that they have received three complaints from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea National Oil Corporation. As a result, they are currently investigating four YouTube accounts.
The Ulsan oil leak to North Korea rumor alleges that 900,000 barrels of crude oil stored at the Ulsan oil storage facility were transferred to North Korea via China. In response, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy firmly denied these claims and filed criminal complaints on March 31 against the accounts Jeon Han-gil News, Jeollado Uihwa Jeon, and TV Free Daily for spreading this misinformation.
Chief Park revealed that since December 20 of last year, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has been operating a task force to address public threats and false information. He stated that they will promptly investigate any posts related to the Middle East conflict that contain false information or meet the criteria for criminal activity.
He further explained that the dedicated team from the Cyber Investigation Division, established in response to the Middle East conflict, is actively requesting the removal and blocking of posts spreading false information through relevant websites and the Korea Communications Standards Commission.
To date, approximately 29 cases of false information dissemination have been reported. However, no cases of public threats have been identified.
Chief Park emphatically stated that it will take strict action against fake news, as it poses a significant threat to social stability.