Man stabs 2 foreign residents 'for no reason'

Incheon District Prosecutors' Office (Herald DB)

A 37-year-old man has been indicted for attempted murder of two foreign residents in Incheon, local prosecutors said Monday.

The suspect is believed to have stabbed the victims in their 40s in the town of Hambak Maeul in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, at around 4:40 a.m. on May 19, according to the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office. He also had attempted to stab two other foreigners who he met earlier, but they managed to escape.

The stabbing victims received medical treatment and reportedly did not sustain fatal injuries.

Investigators found that the suspect was not acquainted with either of the two victims or the two people he had tried to attack earlier. He told officials that he was drunk and there was "no particular reason" for his actions.

It is unclear whether the stabbings were part of a random attack against anyone, or against foreigners specifically.

While the suspect launched an attack against four foreigners, Hambak Maeul is a rare village where the majority of its residents are non-Koreans. As of 2023, about 61 percent of its 12,000 residents had foreign nationality.

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