Prevention is the best medicine

But whether hardening punishment can be effective in reducing crimes needs to be deliberated.

The random stabbing rampage in broad daylight near Sillim Station in southern Seoul sent citizens into shock. The increasing random killings have raised unsettling doubts about public safety. A 33-year-old man wielded a knife at passersby in front of a shopping center near the subway station at around 2:07 p.m. Friday, killing a man in his 20s and injuring three others. The crime scene footage caught on a security camera has gone viral on social media.

Appearing before the court to determine whether to issue an arrest warrant for him, the suspect surnamed Cho blamed his own deprivation for committing the heinous crime on the street. He said he felt useless as his conditions only got worse and acted out of hate to make others as “unhappy” as himself.

Such despicable crimes have become more frequent. In May, a 23-year-old female in Busan brutally killed a tutor she got in contact with from an online community to act out a brutal crime scene she had watched from crime series. Similar motivations made a murder out of a 34-year-old part-timer in a PC cafe in October 2018 in Seoul. Strong actions were discussed every time crimes took place, but they haven’t stopped.

The latest suspect was a repeat offender with three prior criminal records, including violence, and had been referred to a juvenile detention center 14 times. As he was a potential danger with 17 prior records, he should have been under the radar of the law enforcement authorities. That means authorities had 17 opportunities to correct him. Ah In-deuk — who had put an apartment building on fire in Jinju, South Gyeongsang, in 2019 and killed five neighbors trying to flee — was diagnosed with schizophrenia while in a forensic psychiatric center in Gongju, South Chungcheong. The brutal murder could have been avoided if he had been sufficiently treated.

The increase and intensity of random crimes demands strong preventive and remedial actions for juvenile delinquents and other offenders. Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon, a former prosecutor, paid a visit to the crime scene near Sillim Station on Saturday. Last year, he announced a plan to lower the age limit for minor delinquents waived of criminal prosecution to 13.

But whether hardening punishment can be effective in reducing crimes needs to be deliberated. Authorities must find out why they could not stop a crime by a potentially dangerous person even after questioning him 17 times. Psychiatric treatment also could have loopholes.

Preventive actions must be strengthened to help the public’s uneasiness. The urgent response should go to preventing copycat crimes. A similar crime had taken place in a PC cafe in Gwanak District two years after an earlier episode in Gangseo District.