A man in his 30s brandishing a Japanese sword in a residential area hospitalized by police... series of street knife attacks continue

Three Japanese Swords and One Wooden Sword Found in Vehicle
All Illegal Blades Without Possession Permits

A man in his 30s who wielded a Japanese sword in a vacant lot in a residential area was taken into emergency hospitalization after being caught by the police.

On the 11th, the Pyeongtaek Police Station in Gyeonggi Province took Mr. A into emergency hospitalization on the 6th on charges including violation of the Act on the Control of Firearms, Swords, and Explosives and violation of the Act on the Punishment of Violent Acts (habitual offender), News1 reported on the same day. Emergency hospitalization is a measure to admit a person who poses a high risk of self-harm or attacking others to a psychiatric medical institution with the consent of a doctor and police officers. The hospitalization can last up to 72 hours excluding the admission day, and thereafter, a specialist can decide to extend the hospitalization as administrative admission.

Gyeonggi Pyeongtaek Police Station
[Photo by Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency, Yonhap News]

Mr. A is accused of swinging a Japanese sword with a total length of 95 cm (blade length 67 cm) in the air in a vacant lot in a residential area of Paengseong-eup, Pyeongtaek-si, Gyeonggi Province, at around 11:20 a.m. on the 6th. A resident who saw Mr. A holding the sword immediately reported it to the police. However, when the police arrived, Mr. A had already left the scene and moved elsewhere. The police tracked Mr. A through closed-circuit television (CCTV) and other means and arrested him around 2 p.m. the same day at a PC room about 2 km away from the crime scene. Along with this, the police found and seized three Japanese swords, including the one used in the crime that day, and one wooden sword inside Mr. A’s vehicle. All the seized swords were confirmed to be illegal swords without possession permits. Additionally, Mr. A’s vehicle had its front license plate impounded, making it inoperable.

During the police investigation, Mr. A stated, "I like swords and purchased the Japanese swords online," and claimed, "I was just exercising and had no intention to threaten (attack) anyone." It was reported that Mr. A was neither intoxicated nor under the influence of drugs at the time of arrest.

Earlier, on the 29th of last month, Mr. Baek (37), a resident of an apartment complex in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, was arrested by the police on suspicion of killing a man in his 40s living in the same complex with a Japanese sword with a blade length of 75 cm. Also, in April, a man in his 20s who was swinging a weapon in the air near an apartment in Cheongna International City, Incheon, was arrested by the police. After eyewitness accounts of this man were shared online, nearby schools sent notification text messages to parents saying, "There is information that a suspicious adult man is roaming around Cheongna now. He appears to be carrying a dangerous object," and asked them to "guide their children to go straight home." The police urgently arrested and then hospitalized this man.

Meanwhile, as incidents related to swords continue to occur, the National Police Agency announced on the 1st that it will conduct a full inspection of swords and promote system improvements by the 31st of this month. In this full investigation, they plan to thoroughly verify the appropriateness by comprehensively reviewing ▲whether any criminal records have occurred after permission ▲history of domestic violence ▲opinions from the relevant local police stations. When granting new sword possession permits, eligibility will be examined, and the police officer in charge at the police station will interview the applicant directly. If the appropriateness or risk of sword possession is judged during this process, a review committee chaired by the head of the Crime Prevention Response Division at the police station may decide not to grant the possession permit. Additionally, they plan to revise the Firearms and Explosives Control Act to require submission of documents that can confirm whether the applicant has mental illness or personality disorders when applying for new sword permits and to establish regulations for permit renewal.