Another Stab Attack

Soch Mel

In South Korea, a man went on a rampage in Seoul killing at least six people and wounding about 7 others. The 31-year-old Suspect identified by his surname Jeong set fire to his room in southern Seoul and then stabbed other residents in his facility with a sashimi knife. Five were stabbed to death while one died when that person jumped out of a window to escape the fire. The Suspect was later caught where police question his motives. Jeong was unhappy saying that his life has no meaning and that "people look down" on him. It was also found that he was having some tough financial pressure as he was out of work since April from a restaurant he used to work at. He was not able to pay for his rent and his mobile charges. The police took away from him two more knives and a tear gas gun.

This king of incident is not uncommon in South Korea or even Japan, just a few months ago a man went on a rampage in Akihabara, a district in Tokyo. And in the past, there were other similar incidents in South Korea.

So what I think is important about this story is why would this kind of behavior be common in the Far East than anywhere else in the world? This sort of suicidal/homicidal behavior seems to be on the increase in particular males who have some sort of money issue or low self-esteem. Is this the result of the mixture of East Asian Culture and the importation of Western Culture? I cannot fully give an answer, but I think this is worth looking into for observation and research. The last thing we need in a modern, stable society is to have members of the society feel this way and then commit some sort of act that maybe they don't really want to commit.