Teenager who sought to derail bullet train by placing rock on railroad to be questioned

Police plan to summon for questioning a teenage boy who allegedly placed a brick-sized rock on a high-speed railroad last week, officials said Sunday.

According to Korea Railroad Police and Korail, the state-run railway operator, the incident occurred at around 9 p.m. on Thursday at Singyeongju Station in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province.

A rail traffic controller who was monitoring the station via closed-circuit cameras noticed the boy trespassing into the restricted railroad area and placing a rock on the railroad.

He immediately reported the situation to the control tower and the rock was removed.

The railroad section where the rock was placed is used by high-speed trains that run at a maximum speed of up to 300 kilometers per hour, Korail officials explained.

Less than a minute after the removal, a train carrying 116 passengers passed through that section.

According to local reports, the suspect, whose identity and exact age have been withheld, said he wanted to derail the train and be sent to a juvenile detention center.

The Korea Railway Police plan to further investigate the boy's motives. The suspect could face charges of violating the Railway Safety Act. The interrogation will be conducted with a parent or guardian in attendance, officials said.