College student jailed for attempting to join ISIS

CHEONGJU — A college student was jailed Tuesday for pledging allegiance to the extremist militant group ISIS while in high school, officials said.

The Cheongju District Court sentenced the 18-year-old male student to an indeterminate prison term of one to 1 1/2 years after finding him guilty of violating the anti-terrorism law.

The student, whose identity was withheld, was charged with attempting to join ISIS after watching various propaganda materials at an encrypted online platform operated by an ISIS-affiliated group between November 2024 and February this year, and swearing allegiance to ISIS.

He was also suspected of obtaining bomb-making instructions from an ISIS contact, forming a bomb attack scheme against the government forces of Mozambique and requesting an ISIS evaluation for his attack plan, according to court officials.