American man taken into custody for inflicting injury with knife

South Korean police on Tuesday said they have apprehended a US national in his 40s on suspicion of using a knife to injure a local man.

The suspect, whose identity was withheld, is believed to have attacked the victim in his 20s in an alley in Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, western Seoul at 7:22 p.m. on Monday. He approached the victim's car and knocked on the window, and attacked the victim when he came out.

The victim sustained non-critical injuries, and was treated at a nearby hospital. The police caught the suspect around his home nearby after a search lasting about 40 minutes.

Investigators found that the suspect had been drunk at the time of the crime, and are investigating the case to determine what his motives were.

Causing injury via a deadly weapon is defined by South Korean law as "special bodily injury on another," covered in Article 258-2 of the Criminal Act. Perpetrators can be punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)