President Lee visits Incheon police agency to review supermarket knife rampage, calls for “special measures”

[Financial News] President Lee Jae-myung visited the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency on the evening of the 13th and received a briefing on the circumstances of a knife rampage at a large commercial complex that took place that day. Lee was reportedly headed straight to Incheon after completing his engagements in Busan, including a ceremony welcoming the pilot voyage on the Arctic shipping route and a visit to HMM headquarters to offer encouragement at an unveiling ceremony. Having emphasized that protecting the lives and safety of the people is the state’s foremost responsibility, Lee personally checked on the incident as soon as he had finished his scheduled engagements.
Lee received a briefing from Yoo Seung-ryeol, chief of the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency, on the circumstances and status of the incident, and called for a swift and thorough investigation. He also urged particular attention to necessary measures, including the victims’ treatment and recovery as well as protection of their personal safety.
Lee ordered officials to devise special measures to address violent crimes that cause serious harm to innocent citizens and socially vulnerable people and threaten the public’s peaceful daily lives.
He went on to emphasize that protecting the lives and safety of the public is the police’s most fundamental and important responsibility, and called for effective measures to prevent similar incidents from recurring and for all efforts to be focused on preventing violent crime and responding swiftly.
He also ordered a thorough review of the entire system for managing and supervising people wearing electronic ankle monitors in light of the incident, and fundamental improvements to be drawn up for any problems identified.
According to police and other sources, at around 1:40 p.m. that day, a man in his 50s wielded a weapon at the large mixed-use commercial complex “C&C (see&see)” in Guwol-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon, injuring eight visitors.
One of the eight injured, a woman in her 20s, was taken to hospital in cardiac arrest and underwent surgery; she is reportedly receiving treatment in the intensive care unit. The other seven victims, men and women in their 20s to 50s, were also taken to hospital for treatment, and their injuries are not life-threatening, according to reports. Police counted nine victims in total, including one person whose clothes were torn after being threatened with a weapon.
A, 59, who was arrested by police, is believed to have committed the crime while holding a weapon in both hands and securing it with white tape. After entering the building on the first floor, A took an elevator to the second-floor restaurant area and wielded the weapon. A then moved up to the third floor via an escalator, attacking visitors who were complete strangers to him, according to the investigation.
A then tried to enter the fourth floor, where the cinema is located, but returned to the third floor when chairs blocking the entrance prevented him from getting in. During this time, members of the public threw chairs at A and subdued him. He was arrested by police at the scene.
A was also found to have previously served a four-year prison sentence after being convicted of attempting to kill his former wife. He was wearing an electronic ankle monitor at the time of this incident as well.

Lee has previously visited the scene himself to check on the response to incidents involving major loss of life. On March 21, he visited the site of a deadly factory fire in Daedeok-gu, Daejeon, to review the damage and the search for missing people, and offer his condolences to bereaved families and injured people. Shortly after visiting the fire scene, Lee posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) titled “I will take responsibility and stand with you to the end,” emphasizing that “protecting the lives and safety of the people is the state’s most basic responsibility.”
That day, Lee also reiterated the importance of the lives and safety of the public at a State Council of South Korea meeting he chaired at Cheong Wa Dae. Referring to recent relationship-related crimes, he called on the relevant authorities to “closely investigate whether there were any problems in the response process and promptly uncover the facts.”
[email protected] Choi Jong-geun, Han Gap-su Reporter