2 in critical condition as Yoon calls Bundang rampage 'terrorism'

Police walk through the site of a stabbing rampage incident in a department store in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province on Thursday. (Yonhap)

Two people are in critical condition as of Friday morning after a rampage in a shopping mall in Bundang, a wealthy neighborhood in southern Gyeonggi Province in the suburbs of Seoul, fire authorities revealed Friday.

As of 6 a.m. Friday, two out of a total of 14 injured at the scene are at the risk of brain death, according to authorities. Among the injured, five were hit by the assailant's car driving onto the sidewalk near a shopping mall. The assailant then got out of his car and went into the mall, where he stabbed nine people. The assailant, a male in his 20s, is currently in police custody. The motivation behind the crime has yet to be known.

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday called the knife attack during Friday's rush hour "terrorism."

"The stabbing rampage incident is an act of terrorism against innocent citizens." Yoon was quoted as saying to Interior and Safety Miniser Lee Sang-min by his spokesperson Friday.

Yoon also ordered the government to enhance manpower to prevent similar crimes from happening, given that the threats of copycat crimes are burgeoning online in bustling neighborhoods including Gangnam, southern Seoul.

"The government should muster up all available police resources in order not to leave people gripped in fear," Yoon, who is on a weeklong summer vacation at a vacation home, was quoted as saying.

By Son Ji-hyoung(consnow@heraldcorp.com)