Japan, Spain, Germany, etc. Occurrences
China, Multiple Crimes Since 2010
As a series of 'random violent crimes' continue to occur in South Korea, raising concerns, similar incidents have also been reported around the world.
According to major foreign media and Yonhap News Agency, numerous random stabbing incidents have occurred this year in countries such as Japan, France, Germany, and Spain.
On the morning of July 23, a man wielded a weapon on a JR train departing from Kyobashi Station in Tokyo, heading toward Kansai Airport.
A man in his 30s wielding a weapon inside an Osaka airport train is confronting the police. [Photo by Twitter]
The man roamed inside the train and, just before arriving at the station, suddenly stabbed a passenger in the back of the neck with a weapon. He also swung the knife at a crew member and other passengers who tried to stop him, injuring a total of three people.
At the time, the police warned the suspect to drop the knife in his hand, and when he ignored the warning, they subdued him by striking the knife with a baton.
The suspect reportedly told the police that he had "trouble with a passenger." However, the police focused their investigation on the possibility of a 'random crime,' as the suspect had no prior acquaintance with the victims and was carrying three weapons.
In response to a series of incidents in 2021 where passengers wielded weapons on the Odakyu and Keio lines operating in the metropolitan area, the Japanese government decided to mandate the installation of closed-circuit (CC) TVs inside the cabins of some trains, including the high-speed Shinkansen.
On June 8 (local time), a stabbing incident occurred in a village in Annecy, southeastern France, injuring six people, including four children under the age of three and two adults.
A park near the lake in Annecy, France, where a horrific crime occurred. [Photo by AFP/ Yonhap News]
A Syrian national was arrested and detained on suspicion of stabbing several people with a weapon in a park near Lake Annecy.
The man waved the knife in the air while shouting in English, "In the name of Jesus Christ," causing people nearby to scream and seek police help.
He then chased a woman who was running through the park with a stroller, shouting, and repeatedly struck the stroller with the weapon. The man entered Sweden in 2013, was granted refugee status, and is known to have one child with a Swedish woman.
Following the incident, President Emmanuel Macron posted on Twitter, calling it a "completely cowardly attack," stating that "children and adults are at the brink of life and death," and that "the nation is in shock."
A similar incident occurred at a church in Spain. On January 26 (local time), a man wielded a Japanese sword at a church in Algeciras, killing at least one person and injuring four others. The suspect was arrested by local police.
On January 25 (local time), on a train traveling from Kiel to Hamburg in northern Germany, a man carried out a random weapon attack, killing two people and injuring five.
The man attacked passengers with a weapon just before the train arrived at Brockstedt Station, causing the train service to be suspended.
In China, indiscriminate attacks targeting students at schools and kindergartens have occurred almost every year since 2010.
On the 10th, the public security authorities set up police cordons and are controlling the area around a kindergarten in Lianjing City, Guangdong Province, China, where a stabbing incident resulted in 7 casualties. [Photo by Yonhap News]
On July 10, the Lianjing City Public Security Bureau announced that they had arrested and were investigating a suspect named Wu (25), who wielded a knife at a kindergarten in Hengshan Town, Lianjing City, killing six people and injuring one.
According to authorities, the suspect is a 25-year-old man from Lianjing, and the deceased victims include one teacher, two parents, and three children. No further information about the crime has been disclosed.
The first school attack in China occurred in March 2010 at an elementary school in Nanping City, Fujian Province. A 41-year-old man with a background in public health wielded a weapon at students on their way to school, killing eight and injuring five.
By August of the same year, eight attacks had occurred nationwide in kindergartens and schools in Shanxi, Shandong, Guangxi, and other provinces, resulting in 27 deaths and 80 injuries. Attacks targeting women and the elderly outside of schools also followed. Most suspects were male.
The Chinese government emphasized strict punishment and swiftly executed death sentences for perpetrators. Security measures were also strengthened, including assigning security guards to schools.
In this context, it has been suggested that economic difficulties and increased government control during the COVID lockdowns may have worsened citizens' mental health in China.
However, there are criticisms that among the dozens of incidents that have occurred so far, the motives behind the crimes have rarely been clearly identified, limiting analysis.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
