INCHEON — Victims of a stabbing at a shopping complex in Incheon's Guwol-dong that left eight injured are not expected to receive benefits from the city's flagship social safety program, the Citizen Safety Insurance, because the policy does not cover injuries from violent crime. Critics say the exclusion leaves victims in a regulatory blind spot where the local government provides no direct compensation for their injuries.
Incheon said on the 15th that it is reviewing medical cost support and assistance for small business owners affected by the attack, carried out by a 59-year-old suspect surnamed Choi at a commercial facility in Guwol-dong, Namdong-gu.
Ten people were affected by the attack, including eight who were injured. Four are in serious condition and require urgent treatment. Two of them — including a 19-year-old woman who was transported in cardiac arrest, underwent emergency surgery and has not regained consciousness for three days — are receiving intensive care at a hospital identified as G Hospital. The others are hospitalized separately at a facility identified as I Hospital and at another hospital. Medical bills for the four are estimated at about 100 million won ($70,000).
Treatment costs are expected to be covered through the Incheon Crime Victim Support Center, a nonprofit organization. But more than 90% of the 180 million won in city funding allocated to the center this year under Incheon's ordinance on the protection and support of crime victims has already been spent, leaving little room for additional city support. The center is instead drawing on state funds and its own reserves to cover victims' medical costs.
An official at the Incheon Crime Victim Support Center said in a phone interview that the center is using state funds and its own resources in addition to the city budget. "We are able to fully cover the 30% to 50% out-of-pocket share that patients bear after national health insurance is applied," the official said.
The problem is that Incheon has neither its own safety net nor funding to respond to random knife attacks in everyday public spaces. The city enacted an ordinance on preventing random-motive crime and supporting its victims, but the Incheon Autonomous Police Committee, the department in charge, has not allocated a single won to related programs, leaving the budget at zero.
The Citizen Safety Insurance, which automatically enrolls all city residents, is also failing to serve its purpose. Although a rider covering injuries from violent crime can be added, the city has delayed adopting it, citing the added premium costs of covering all residents.
Kim Song-won, secretary general of the Incheon Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, said it is a significant policy shortcoming that an ordinance exists without any implementation budget, and that violent crime coverage is missing from the Citizen Safety Insurance because of fiscal concerns, at a time when random attacks in everyday settings continue. "Rather than relying solely on the central government or private support, the local government must move quickly to secure effective funding of its own and fill the gaps in the system," he said.
A city official said the Citizen Safety Insurance was designed primarily to compensate victims of disasters and public transit accidents, and that the rider was not included because support for violent crime victims is provided separately through programs such as those run by the crime victim support center.
Meanwhile, a court hearing on the arrest warrant sought for Choi on charges of attempted murder and possession of a bladed weapon in a public place will be held at the Incheon District Court on the 16th.