The police have launched an emergency investigation in response to a threatening online post that suggested an explosive device had been planted at the Shinsegae Department Store’s headquarters in central Seoul on Tuesday.

At 12:36 p.m., a message was posted on DC Inside, a community portal website, claiming that explosives were installed at the Shinsegae Department Store, located near the busy Myeongdong shopping district.

The author of the post warned readers not to go to Shinsegae today, saying they had planted a device on the first floor of the store that was set to explode at 3 p.m. 

The Namdaemun Police Station received a report about the message about an hour after it was posted, and under the command of the police chief, store employees and customers were evacuated from the premises.