Street killings, death threats, and living in fear of your own neighborhood.
What happened?
Picture Source: BBC News
On August 3rd, a bizarre incident bursted out of nowhere. A man in his 20s rammed his car into passers-by near Seohyeon Station, stabbed one person to death and injured another twelve. The abrupt stabbing attack left the victims completely off-guard; in fact, more stabbing cases continue to frighten South Koreans. Following the devastating incident on August 3rd, another stabbing attack happened in the commuter town of Seongnam near Seoul, which wounded three victims and killed one other. Both attacks took place where a good amount of commuters live: near large shopping malls and convenient stores, which make the assaults appear extra violent. Evidently, the first stabbing case assailant reported to be suffering from mental issues. The police said up to this day, 12 people remain injured in the hospital: nine stabbed, four hit by the car, in fact, a man in his 60s died after staying in the hospital for a few days.
Death Threats to Korean Celebrities
Prior to the 2023 stabbing trend, anonymous death threats were already ubiquitous on the internet. This unsettling trend ultimately gave numerous assailants perfect opportunities to display harm to influential figures in the most unpreventable way. The stabbing trend inevitably extended from the real world to the internet. Following the terrifying threats in the streets of Seoul, an anonymous netizen posted an ominously detailed stabbing threat towards Winter from the K-POP girl band Aespa. Specifically, this anonymous assailant threatens to attack Winter with a knife on her way to the airport in DC. Aespa finished their schedule in Washington, DC on the 8th, because of the horrible threat, there were around ten police officers deployed at the airport to protect Winter from any forms of potential harm. Fortunately, all four members of Aespa departed the states safely, this incident still raised immense rage from her fans and South Koreans who are shaded under the fear from these chain stabbing attacks.
South Korean Residents’ Reaction
“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,” 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.” “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. Unfortunately, “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. Online, A huge group of netizens continuously express their anger towards the crisis, “This is a sensitive time for us, but they’re still making terror threats. They must be caught. Police, please do your best”. The uncontrollable crisis has gotten in the way of many Koreans’ lives. Moreover, the timing and method of the crime come in the most unexpected way and timing, which is giving the police a hard time to practice apt protections to the neighborhoods.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66438202
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/south-korea-stabbing-car-ramming-seongnam-rcna97920
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