An interview with a man in his 30s who subdued a suspect in his 50s during a knife attack at a mixed-use commercial complex in Incheon is drawing wide attention online.
According to KBS News on the 15th, Na Hyun-jun, 31, picked up a chair and subdued a man in his 50s, identified as A, as he swung a knife at a mixed-use commercial complex in Guwol-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon, on the 13th. Na said he had been sitting down to eat with his girlfriend when people suddenly came running toward him, screaming.
"The restaurant owner was holding him off with a chair, but it looked too hard to manage alone, so I helped," Na said. "At that moment, the only thing within reach was a chair." Closed-circuit television footage of the incident shows Na raising a chair high to block the knife the suspect was swinging. While backing away to avoid A, he tumbled down an escalator. Na said he had decided he needed to prevent harm to others even if he himself got hurt.
After the interview was published, online attention turned to the irezumi tattoo on Na's forearm. Irezumi is a tattooing style that inscribes traditional Japanese patterns across large areas of the body, and it has long been seen as a mark of Japanese yakuza and organized crime groups in Korea.
Internet users who saw the footage of Na said their prejudices about tattoos had faded. Comments included, "This is the first time full-sleeve tattoos have looked cool to me," and, "I don't like tattoos, but this person looks different to me."
A was arrested on suspicion of attempting to murder 10 people by stabbing them with a knife at the C&C Building, a large commercial facility in Guwol-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon, at about 1:48 p.m. on the 13th. Among the injured, a teenage girl who went into cardiac arrest underwent emergency surgery and is recovering but remains unconscious. Seven men and women in their 20s to 50s who were taken to hospitals were confirmed to be in no danger of losing their lives. The remaining two were not hurt and returned home on their own.
During police questioning, A was quoted as saying that he committed the crime to make society aware of his grievance over being investigated by police following a report filed by a hospital.