SEONGNAM, South Korea ¨C An apparently random stabbing attack in a commuter town near Seoul, the second such rampage in South Korea in less than two weeks, has sparked fear in a country that has long been considered safe with a low murder rate and strict firearm curbs.
A man rammed his car into passers-by, then got out and stabbed multiple people in a shopping mall in Seongnam on Thursday, police said. He was arrested on site, leaving 14 people wounded, two in a critical condition.
The unexplained rampage came days after another rare stabbing attack in Seoul which killed one person and wounded three others.
¡°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,¡± said Lee Young-ja, a 78-year-old Seongnam resident who fled after hearing people screaming during Thursday¡¯s incident.
Another resident in the area, Choi Jun-ho, 26, said he was staying extra vigilant on his way to work on Friday morning, near the mall where the stabbing took place.
¡°It¡¯s unnerving,¡± Choi said. ¡°Something like this could happen right next to me.¡±
President Yoon Suk Yeol called the incident an act of terrorism against innocent citizens and ordered police to mobilize all available resources to ease public concerns.
On social media, a list of copycat attack threats were circulating.
¡°I¡¯ve been telling my families and friends to stay home,¡± a 31-year-old Seoul resident said. She spoke on condition of anonymity due to fears for her safety.
¡°I hope people posting those threats all get tracked down and harshly punished.¡±
Police Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun on Thursday warned South Koreans to be on guard for such attacks and told officials to be vigilant.
Experts said there was a risk similar crimes could follow, and urged authorities to swiftly analyze patterns in recent rampage crimes to come up with countermeasures.
¡°The suspects not having clear motives doesn¡¯t necessarily mean that there¡¯s no way to prevent these crimes,¡± Kim Do-woo, a police science professor at Kyungnam University, said.
For example, police should closely monitor and proactively intervene when there¡¯s any reports of suspicious acts at crowded public areas as both of the stabbing attacks in recent weeks took place near subway stations, Kim said.
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