'Subway Stabbing Rampage' 50s Defendant Sentenced to 5 Years in Appeal Trial

Last year, the prosecution requested a heavier sentence than the first trial for a man in his 50s who was charged with injuring passengers by wielding a weapon on the Seoul subway.

On the 30th, at the Seoul Western District Court Criminal Appeal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Lim Min-seong), during the appeal trial for Hong Mo (52) on charges of special injury, the prosecution requested the court to overturn the original sentence of two years in prison and instead impose five years in prison as originally requested by the prosecution.

Hong’s defense attorney stated on the day, "Please ensure that there is no risk of reoffending through appropriate treatment," expressing the opinion that Hong requires treatment custody.

Treatment custody is a disposition that allows a criminal with recognized mental or physical disabilities to be confined in a facility for treatment. It was understood that Hong was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was in need of treatment based on a psychiatric evaluation.

The defense attorney raised concerns, saying, "The defendant does not acknowledge any medical history at all, so under such circumstances, incidents causing injury to others can occur at any time," and added, "I was informed that the public defender in the first trial repeatedly raised this issue with the prosecution, but despite that, the request for treatment custody was omitted and this issue has not been corrected to date."

The defense claims that although Hong has a prior record of treatment custody, the prosecution did not properly examine the issue.

However, the court explained that under current law, it is difficult to impose treatment custody at the court’s discretion without a request from the prosecution, stating, "We will request the prosecution to actively consider filing such a request through the trial record."

After the trial, the defense attorney told reporters, "I expected the prosecution to request treatment custody today, but they did not," and added, "Since they made the same sentencing request as in the original trial, it seems the prosecution is not paying any attention to the case."

Hong is accused of wielding an 8 cm long multipurpose camping tool with a blade inside a train heading from Ewha Womans University Station to Sinchon Station on Seoul Subway Line 2 on August 19 last year. He is charged with injuring A (30, Taiwanese nationality) and B (29) on the face.

Previously, several notes were found in Hong’s notebook seized by the prosecution, containing messages to the effect that "a criminal organization is attacking me." He was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia but was found to have stopped treatment since January 2019.