Stabbing attacks keep Koreans on edge: ‘I’m more scared of being in South Korea’
- Back-to-back stabbing rampages, including at a shopping centre in Seongnam, have heightened fears of copycat attacks in a country that has long been considered safe
- ‘I’ve always been telling my kids to be careful when they go abroad due to gun fears but now I’m more scared of being in South Korea,’ a resident says
A man rammed his car into passers-by then got out and stabbed multiple people in a shopping centre in Seongnam on Thursday, police said. He was arrested on site, leaving 14 people wounded, two in critical condition.
On Friday, police detained a man suspected of stabbing a teacher with a knife in the city of Daejeon.
Officials at the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency didn’t immediately release the personal details of the suspect in the attack on the teacher at Songchon High School, describing him only as a man in his late 20s.
According to police, the suspect waited for the teacher to step out of a classroom before stabbing him and fleeing the scene, which, according to officials, suggests they were acquaintances.
Police and fire department authorities did not specify the teacher’s health condition.