08/13/2023
A knife darting out in a packed subway car. An assailant, chasing shoppers, stabbing wildly in the street.
These nightmares have played out in the minds of many South Koreans following a mass stabbing attack last week - the country's second in as many weeks.
On 3 August, 14 people were injured in Seongnam, south-east of Seoul, when a man rammed his car into pedestrians near a subway stop, and then ran into a department store, where he stabbed nine people. One woman died later from her injuries.
"What's happening in South Korea these days?" cried citizens online afterwards - dazed by back-to-back stabbings in a nation known otherwise for low rates of violent crime.
"Our country used to be one of the safest in the world… but recently I can't say that any more," one commented on YouTube
Just days earlier, on 21 July, another man had attacked commuters in the capital, killing one person and stabbing three more at a subway station. He later told police he lived na miserable life and "wanted to make others miserable too".
