South Korea: Eight wounded in knife attack at Incheon supermarket, suspect arrested

Eight people were wounded in a stabbing incident at a supermarket in the South Korean city of Incheon on Tuesday, with one person suffering cardiac arrest, police said.

Officers responding to the scene arrested a male suspect and were investigating the motive and circumstances of the attack, a police spokesperson said by telephone.

According to The Korea Times, the suspect, believed to be in his 60s, attacked shoppers at around 1.40pm while riding an escalator between the supermarket on the second basement level and the second floor above ground. He reportedly had knives attached to both hands, the Namdong Police Station said

Incheon, west of Seoul, is home to South Korea's main airport and forms part of the wider Seoul metropolitan area.

South Korea was shaken by a series of stabbing rampages in 2023, including attacks that left multiple people dead and injured.

More recently in May, a 17-year-old girl was fatally stabbed and another teenager hurt in the southwestern city of Gwangju by a man in his 20s, who was later sentenced by a court to life in prison.