Incheon stabbing suspect was under electronic monitoring, had record of knife crimes and psychiatric treatment

A 59-year-old man who allegedly stabbed eight people at an Incheon shopping complex on Tuesday was not only receiving psychiatric treatment but also wearing an electronic ankle monitor for a past knife attack.

Exclusive reporting by the JoongAng Ilbo found that the suspect, identified by his surname Choi, was diagnosed with depression, social anxiety disorder and alcohol dependence more than 30 years ago. But despite treatment, he was repeatedly convicted of crimes, including attempted murder and assault involving a weapon.

Choi is accused of stabbing eight people with intent to kill at around 1:40 p.m. Tuesday in a large commercial building in Guwol-dong, Namdong District. The building houses a hypermarket and a movie theater. A woman in her 20s was taken to the hospital in cardiac arrest and underwent surgery. Paramedics took seven other men and women in their 20s to 50s to hospitals for treatment.

The Incheon Namdong Police Station arrested Choi on charges including attempted murder. Choi told police shortly after his arrest, “I didn’t get proper treatment at a dermatology clinic,” adding, “I’ve been receiving psychiatric treatment.” He also reportedly voiced grievances against society during questioning and described part of how the attack unfolded.

Choi’s motive remains unclear. It is also notable that the attack took place in Guwol-dong, a 40- to 50-minute drive from his home in Gyeyang District, Incheon. Police are focusing their questioning on his motive and on whether he planned the attack in advance. They plan to bring in three profilers as well.  

His record of violence goes back more than two decades. In 2005, Choi received a two-year-and-six-month prison sentence, suspended for three years, for attempted murder. In 2008, he attacked his wife with a knife while drunk and again received a suspended sentence of one year and six months, suspended for three years.

In 2015, after the couple had divorced, Choi attacked his ex-wife with a knife when she refused to reconcile with him and was sentenced to four years in prison. The court ordered him to wear an electronic monitoring device for 10 years after his release, citing his severe alcohol dependence, a high recidivism risk assessment and his psychiatric treatment, according to the ruling obtained by the JoongAng Ilbo. As a condition of the monitoring, the court also barred him from leaving his home between midnight and 6 a.m.

After his release, Choi lived under electronic monitoring and continued his psychiatric treatment. Last month, he was booked for staging a one-person protest while carrying a weapon outside a hospital in Gyeyang District, reportedly because he was unhappy with his treatment.

“He went around telling people himself, ‘I started going to the hospital in July,’” said a store owner near the hospital. “From then on, he held a one-person protest every day from morning to evening with a picket packed with writing.”

Choi did not violate any of his monitoring conditions on the day of Tuesday’s stabbing, according to the Justice Ministry.

“Since electronic monitoring began in 2019, [Choi] complied with supervision, consistently received psychiatric treatment and did not reoffend,” the ministry said in a statement after the attack. “That morning, he also met with his probation officer and underwent a check of whether he had taken his psychiatric medication, and he did not violate the conditions of the electronic device.”

The ministry added, “We are treating this incident with the utmost seriousness and are thoroughly investigating its circumstances and the entire electronic monitoring management process. We will fully reexamine the electronic monitoring supervision system and swiftly prepare the necessary institutional improvements and supplementary measures.”

BY BYUN MIN-CHUL, HAN CHAN-WOO [[email protected]]