Two knife attacks against parents occurred in Seoul on consecutive days. A woman in her 40s accused of killing her mother denies the allegation, and a woman in her 30s who injured her father has also been arrested.
Daughter Arrested on Suspicion of Killing Her Mother
Seoul's Gangseo Police Station has requested an arrest warrant for a woman in her 40s, identified as A, on suspicion of murdering a direct ascendant, police said on the 24th. A is accused of killing her mother, a woman in her 60s identified as B, with a knife at their home in Ujangsan-dong, Gangseo District, between 7 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. on the 22nd.
A called police at about 8:15 a.m. to report that she had "done something bad to my stepmother." About 15 minutes later, A's daughter, who was outside the home, also called police, saying her mother was saying strange things and that her grandmother was not answering the phone. Police detained A at the home at about 8:40 a.m.
Police initially applied a murder charge because A reported killing her stepmother, but changed it to murder of a direct ascendant after confirming the victim was her biological mother.
A has denied the allegation in police questioning, according to police. She had also received psychiatric treatment for about a decade. A's daughter called police after growing alarmed during a phone call with her mother, who said she had scolded the grandmother for trying to feed her food laced with poison. No poison was found at the scene, the investigation determined.
Daughter in Her 30s Also Arrested for Stabbing Her Father
On the 21st, a woman in her 30s identified as C stabbed her father, a man in his 60s, at a residence in Gangdong District. Seoul's Gangdong Police Station arrested C at about 8 p.m. the same day on suspicion of aggravated injury to a direct ascendant.
The father called police himself immediately after the incident. He was taken to a hospital by paramedics and his life was not in danger. C told police she committed the act out of anger during an argument with her father.
Killing a direct ascendant such as a parent carries a heavier penalty than ordinary homicide. Article 250, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Act provides for the death penalty, life imprisonment or a prison term of at least seven years.
Cases of murder or attempted murder of a direct ascendant nationwide totaled 48 in 2022, 59 in 2023, 60 in 2024 and 55 in 2025, according to the Korean National Police Agency. The four-year total of 222 cases amounts to roughly one a week. Cases that resulted in an actual killing ranged from 28 to 32 a year over the same period.