DIY explosive device found at residence of suspect in fatal shooting. (Image courtesy of Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency)
SEOUL, July 25 (Korea Bizwire) — The brutal murder of a man by his father using a homemade firearm in Incheon’s Songdo district has reignited alarm in South Korea over the growing availability of online content teaching how to make illegal weapons.
The incident has amplified calls for tighter regulation of do-it-yourself (DIY) gun and explosive videos circulating on global social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok.
The 60-something suspect admitted to learning how to build the gun through online videos. Authorities later discovered 15 improvised explosive devices rigged with timers in his home. The police described the devices as capable of significant harm and emphasized that they were scheduled to detonate hours after the murder.
Although South Korea has long maintained a strict anti-gun policy—earning a reputation as a “gun-free nation”—the rise of homemade weapons is threatening that status. Experts argue that the widespread and largely unregulated spread of weapon-making tutorials on social media amounts to criminal negligence by platforms.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe collapsed after being shot during a campaign speech in July 2022. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
The suspect’s case echoes previous incidents, including the 2016 Opesan Tunnel shooting, where a former soldier used a homemade firearm to kill a police officer. Similar DIY weapons were used in an attempted assassination of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in 2023 and the successful assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022. In both cases, the attackers reportedly followed online guides to build their weapons.
Despite YouTube’s and TikTok’s community guidelines banning weapon-making tutorials, such content remains accessible due to inconsistent enforcement and evasive keyword tactics used by uploaders. The Korea Communications Standards Commission requested the removal of 2,447 pieces of illegal weapon content in 2023, but experts argue this falls far short given the volume of global uploads.
In response to the Incheon case, Korean police have launched an emergency operation to remove illegal weapon content online and track uploaders. But they acknowledge the challenge of monitoring platforms in real time with limited manpower and legal tools.
“There is a demand for weapons, but no legal supply in Korea. That vacuum is being filled by online content,” said Oh Yoon-sung, a police science professor at Soonchunhyang University. Other experts urged legislative reform to hold platforms accountable for hosting such content in countries where firearms are banned.
Academics warn that even crudely made weapons can be lethally powerful. One study found that a pipe-style homemade gun could kill large animals depending on construction quality. Another noted that Abe’s assassin’s weapon, fired from 7 to 8 meters, was powerful enough to pierce bone and even left bullet holes in nearby vehicles.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service has previously warned that critical components for improvised weapons are readily available via international e-commerce platforms.
The government now faces growing pressure to overhaul its monitoring systems and establish dedicated units to preempt emerging online threats in the country’s otherwise tightly regulated firearms landscape.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
