‘Boy who cried wolf’: Seoul residents panic after false rocket alarm

A woman shows her mobile phone with an emergency evacuation warning text message issued by Seoul City at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul on May 31, 2023. North Korea launched its purported spy satellite on May 31, the South’s military said, prompting confusion in Seoul as the city briefly issued an evacuation warning in error. — AFP

SEOUL: An emergency evacuation alert sent in error across Seoul over a North Korean rocket launch triggered widespread panic on May 31, crashing Internet services and raising fears the government could not be trusted to handle a real crisis.

The alert, sent at 6.41am local time to all mobile phones in Seoul, said: “Citizens, please prepare to evacuate and allow children and the elderly to evacuate first.”