SEOUL (SCMP): A man has been arrested in South Korea after one woman was killed and another was injured following a stabbing spree in a supermarket in Seoul, in an incident that has shocked the city’s residents.
The man in his thirties, identified only as A, was arrested on suspicion of murder immediately after the attack on Tuesday.
Outside the courthouse for his pre-trial hearing on Thursday, he told reporters that the attack was not premeditated. He said: “I’m sorry to the victim. I’ll never do something like this again.”
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
Following the attack inside the store in Mia-dong, one of the women in her sixties suffered a heart attack and died in a hospital, while a store employee was injured.
Investigators said A had earlier been admitted to a nearby hospital for a finger injury but left while still wearing a hospital gown, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily.
While inside the store, he drank soju before removing a knife on display to carry out the attack. He later hid the knife in a pile of snacks before leaving the store, according to the Maeil Business Newspaper.
The man smoked a cigarette and called the police after the incident. Both victims were strangers to the suspect, according to the police.
“We are currently looking into whether the suspect has a history of mental illness and what prompted the attack,” a police official told the Korea JoongAng Daily.
Surveillance footage shows shoppers fleeing or standing in shock as the elderly victim lay bleeding outside the store, according to a report by The Korea Herald newspaper.
“This isn’t the Korea I know. You go out to buy groceries and end up being stabbed to death by a complete stranger. It’s terrifying,” a resident at the scene told the newspaper.
The stabbing follows several random attacks in residential areas around Seoul recently. On Monday, an elderly suspect allegedly set fire to two units in a block of flats, following noise disputes between him and his neighbours. The 61-year-old man reportedly died in the fire. -- South China Morning Post:
