Following a knife attack in Incheon's Guwol-dong, police have convened an emergency meeting of provincial police chiefs nationwide, and the acting commissioner general of the National Police Agency will visit the crime scene. Police will concentrate officers in crowded public places and move preemptively against people carrying knives in public and against online posts threatening crimes.
Kim Jong-cheol, acting commissioner general of the National Police Agency, convened an emergency meeting of senior agency officials on the 13th after being briefed on the knife attack in Guwol-dong, Incheon, that occurred that day, and held a video conference with provincial police chiefs nationwide at 5:30 p.m.
At the meeting, Kim was briefed by the chief of the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency on how the incident unfolded and on the investigation and measures taken. He then ordered a swift and rigorous investigation into the case as a whole, including the motive, while also ensuring full protection and support for victims.
He instructed provincial police chiefs across the country to step up efforts to prevent violent crime. In particular, he called for deploying sufficient numbers of officers to crowded public places and for tougher enforcement against carrying knives in public and against online posts threatening similar crimes. The measures are intended to prevent copycat crimes and to minimize public anxiety.
After the emergency meeting, Kim will visit the scene of the Incheon attack in person to review the response on the ground. He also plans to preside over an additional meeting of relevant senior officials later this week to examine legal and institutional gaps exposed in preventing violent crime and responding to relationship-based crimes, and to consider improvements. With such cases increasingly escalating into violent crime, police plan to conduct a nationwide review of all relationship-based crime cases, including stalking, dating violence and domestic violence.