"Why Are You Swearing At Me?"...20s Man Jailed For Going To High School With Hand Axe

Cheongju District Court Sentences Defendant to 1 Year and 6 Months in Prison
Court: "Considered the Fact That He Suffers From a Mental Illness"

A man in his 20s has been sentenced to prison for going to a high school with a hand axe and threatening people because he claimed students had sworn at him.

According to the legal community on the 18th, the Cheongju District Court Criminal Division 4 Single Judge (Presiding Judge Kang Hyunho) sentenced a man in his 20s, identified as A, to 1 year and 6 months in prison on charges including public intimidation and aggravated theft.

Exterior of Cheongju District Court

A is accused of entering a high school in Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong Province, at around 1 p.m. on June 12 last year, carrying a hand axe at his waist and a folding knife in his pocket, and threatening students, teachers, and others. He allegedly showed the hand axe to one teacher and said, "I was originally going to split the students' heads, but I will just use this when I go camping," and, in front of a number of students, pretended to talk to someone on the phone and said, "If I don't like you, I'll stab you with a knife," while hurling insults.

A, who suffers from a mental illness, reportedly told police investigators that "a few days earlier, when I passed in front of the school, I was sworn at by students, so I went there to protest." He is also charged with theft for allegedly stealing cash totaling about 1.7 million won in five separate incidents between October and November last year, including from the interior of vehicles with unlocked doors and from unmanned store kiosks.

Presiding Judge Kang pointed out, "The defendant created anxiety and fear among an unspecified number of people and thereby harmed public safety, and even after being released following a substantive review of a warrant for detention on charges of public intimidation, he continued his theft spree." He went on to explain the reasons for sentencing, saying, "However, the court took into account in determining the sentence that this is the defendant's first offense and that he suffers from a mental illness."