Knife rampage suspect charged with murder, arson

By Kim Hyun

SEOUL, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- Police charged a man who killed six people and injured seven in a stabbing spree at a Seoul lodging house with murder and arson on Tuesday, describing the suspect as a loner strapped for cash.

"He said, 'I have been mistreated by people since childhood. Many people around
me looked down on me. Because of the mental pain inflicted on me, I decided to
kill other people,'" Kim Kap-shik, head of the criminal affairs division at
Gangnam Police Station, told reporters before submitting a document for an arrest
warrant.
The 31-year-old suspect, who was identified only by his surname Jeong, was
arrested early Monday after he set fire to his room in a low-cost lodging house
and launched a frenzied attack on fleeing residents with a sushi knife.
Five people, including three Korean-Chinese migrant workers, were stabbed to
death, while another died after jumping out of the four-story building. The death
toll may rise, with four of the injured in serious condition, police said.
Jeong's crime reignited fears of indiscriminate killing driven by the country's
economic slowdown. A high school graduate who moved to Seoul from his countryside
home in 2002, he had few options on how to make a living, police said. After
switching from one workplace to another, as a parking valet or a food delivery
man on a monthly income of 1.2 million won (US$900), he became jobless in August.
Overdue bills piled up, including rent for his single room, mobile phone fees and
a fine for skipping a reserve forces training, which altogether amounted to 2.2
million won. He also needed millions of won for the treatment of his varicose
veins.
"He had no job, but he needed a large sum of money," Kim said.
His face covered with a mask, goggles and a knit cap, Jeong wielded a sushi knife
at unknown victims, with a gas pistol attached to his belt and two fruit knives
to his ankles. Jeong said he did not drink alcohol or use drugs before the crime,
the officer said. He had attempted suicide twice while in middle school, he said.
The Chinese Embassy in Seoul organized an emergency team to probe the accident
and provide care for the Chinese victims, who were mostly ethnic Korean women
working at nearby restaurants, according to China News Service.
"He would have wanted to express his anger toward the authorities or those who
represent society, but given the fact that they are beyond his reach, it seems
that he made the building and a number of unknown people he had access to his
target," Pyo Chang-won, a criminal psychology professor at Korea National Police
University, said.
Indiscriminate killings by people in their 30s increased in recent years,
including a knife attack by a 36-year-old jobless man who stabbed a high school
girl to death while she was jogging with a friend in April.
In 2005, Yoo Yeong-cheol was sentenced to life in prison for killing 21 elderly
people and women.
According to police data, the number of those killed by unknown assailants
increased to 364 last year from 303 in 2005.