Man wields knife near presidential office, injuring 2 police officers

The main gate of the Defense Ministry, where the presidential office is located, and where a man took out a knife and stabbed two police officers attempting to subdue him on Tuesday afternoon. (Yonhap)

A man in his 70s was arrested on Tuesday for wielding a knife in front of the main gate of the Defense Ministry in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, where the presidential office is located. Two police officers were injured in the process of subduing the man.

The Yongsan Police Station arrested the 77-year-old man, who is only identified by his surname of Park, who took out a knife in front of the main gate of the presidential office at 1:20 p.m.

When Park, who was passing in front of the main gate of the Defense Ministry, shouted, police officers in charge of security told him to "pass by quickly" and then tried to subdue him, according to reports. The man then took a knife out of his bag and stabbed one police officer in his left abdomen and another in his left arm.

Park was arrested on the charge of obstructing justice. The injured police officers were transferred to the National Medical Center and Soonchunhyang University Medical Center for treatment, respectively, and it was determined that the injuries were not serious.

According to local news media, Park is known to have regularly protested near the presidential office. He also reportedly told the police that was going to the presidential office to file a complaint before the incident occurred.

The police said they are investigating the man and possible motives.

By Lee Jung-youn(jy@heraldcorp.com)