South Korea orders monitoring review after Incheon knife attack

The Justice Ministry apologised and promised to reassess electronic supervision after a monitored suspect attacked shoppers in Incheon on October 13.

Police said a 59-year-old man attacked people at a commercial building containing a Homeplus supermarket at 1:40 p.m. Shoppers subdued him before police took him into custody. Yonhap reported that eight victims went to hospital, including one who suffered cardiac arrest.

The suspect was wearing an electronic ankle monitor following a previous conviction. According to Yonhap, his monitoring order runs for 10 years until February 2029, after a four-year prison sentence for attempting to murder his former wife and his release in 2019.

The ministry said it would investigate how electronic monitoring had been managed and review its supervision system. SBS independently reported the apology and review. Acting national police chief Kim Jong-chul ordered a thorough investigation and stronger preventive policing in crowded public places.